Always Love
by thedreamygirl
Summary: Nathan and Jake go undercover at THHigh. They thought keeping their identities secret would be hard, but it becomes even more difficult when they find love at Tree Hill High, especially since in Nathan's case it's with his teacher!NH JP LBfull summ inside
1. Chapter 1

**Always Love**

**Full Summary: Nathan and Jake's new assignment finds them undercover at Nathan's cousin Lucas' school. With Jake posing as a teacher and Nathan as a student, they thought keeping their identities a secret would be hard enough, but things become even more difficult when they find love at Tree Hill High - especially since in Nathan's case it's with his teacher! NH JP LB**

**A/N: **I got the idea for this story while I was writing my first OTH fic, **Why Don't You and I**, but it was only in February that I started to storyboard the whole thing. I'm not going to give much information away as it is explained in the story. I'd like to give a special thanks to **Siriusgirl1** who loved the idea immediately and kept on bugging me to sit down and write it.

**Disclaimer:** The characters in this story do not belong to me (unless it's someone who's not on the show); they belong to Mark Schwahn and all the rest of the OTH team. The title of this story, 'Always Love', is taken from the song by Nada Surf.

**Chapter One**

Nathan Scott closed his suitcase, having unpacked the last of his clothes. He then moved the suitcase, so he could lie down on the bed of the guest room of the Scott House. That is, his Uncle Keith Scott's house. His real home, back in Charleston, was his mother's, Karen Roe's house. The short of history of his life so far is this: his father Dan Scott left his mother after they graduated from high school when he found out she was pregnant. Dan's elder brother Keith, however, helped Karen through her pregnancy, and once she moved to Charleston he supported them whenever he could, even after he and his wife Deb had a son of their own, Lucas, when Nathan was seven. After Nathan graduated high school he joined the police academy and for the past 4 years had been working as a police officer in Charleston. He and his partner Jake Jagielski had already been on two undercover assignments, but this was their first outside of Charleston.

Two weeks ago their boss had told Nathan and Jake that they were going to be sent to Tree Hill to uncover a major drug dealer. The police in Tree Hill had recently discovered that the dealer they had been after for a while went to Tree Hill High School, but they couldn't send one of their officers undercover as they'd be recognizable. As a result, it ended up that Jake and Nathan were given the assignment. The police weren't sure whether the dealer was a student or a teacher at the high school so, since Nathan was younger by two years, and Jake had gone to college before joining the academy, Nathan would be posing as a student and Jake was going to be the new history teacher.

Jake had been provided with an apartment, but Nathan would be staying at Keith's house. His story was that he was 19 (and not 25) and had been sent by his mother to live with his aunt and uncle and repeat his senior year of high school in Tree Hill. Lucas was now 18 so for him tomorrow really was the start of his senior year.

"Hey, Nate?" Lucas knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Nathan answered.

Lucas opened the door and poked his head inside. "My Mum's calling us."

Nathan glanced over at the clock. "Isn't it kind of early for dinner?"

"I don't think its dinner. She didn't say; she just said for us to come downstairs."

Nathan got up and followed his cousin downstairs into the kitchen where his Aunt Deb was making dinner, and his Uncle Keith was looking over some folders.

"Boys," Deb said when she saw them, "I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"What is it mum?" Lucas asked.

She left the fridge, and went over to her handbag, which was on the kitchen counter. She pulled out a piece of paper from it, and then handed it to Lucas. "I need a few things from the supermarket," she told them. "I know you only arrived last night Nathan, so if you want to rest –"

"I don't mind."

"Thank you, Nathan. You can take Keith's jeep."

"They can?" Keith said, finally looking up from his work.

"Yes. Dinner will be ready by the time you get home."

Nathan nodded, and reached for his jacket, as Lucas whined, "But then if you have what you need for dinner why do we need to get them tonight?"

"So I don't have to go tomorrow," Deb said impatiently.

"Why; you got a hot date?" Keith joked, causing Nathan to chuckle.

Lucas grudgingly took his jacket and he and Nathan headed for the front door, after saying goodbye to Keith and Deb. Lucas took the car keys off the front table and commented, "At least, I get to drive the jeep."

Before Nathan could reply, Deb appeared from the kitchen, "Oh, and Lucas? Nathan will do the driving."

* * *

"How's Jake doing?" Lucas asked Nathan, as neared the supermarket.

"Not bad. I spoke to him about an hour ago."

"How does he feel about having to be a teacher?"

Nathan laughed. "The same as he did when he first heard our assignment; somewhat unenthusiastic."

"Isn't it a bit strange that the two of you aren't undercover at the same job?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're a student and Jake's a teacher. You're not supposed to know each other; how are you guys gonna talk about the case?"

"We discussed that; we just have to keep it covert. We'll only be able to meet at the police station, 'cause it'll be kind of weird if he shows up at your parent's house and the same if I go to the apartment."

Lucas nodded and decided not to ask any more questions; he and his parents were to be kept informed strictly on a need-to-know basis. Nathan and Jake's boss would have preferred it if they hadn't been told at all, but the fact that they were such close relations meant they had to know something. Plus, they helped with Nathan's cover story.

Nathan pulled up in front of the supermarket and parked his uncle's jeep outside. As the two descended from the jeep and walked to the entrance, Lucas pulled the list out of his pocket and tore it in half. Handing one half to Nathan he explained, "It'll be faster this way." Both picked up a basket each, and went down different aisles.

Having had to do groceries back home, Nathan managed to get around the supermarket pretty quickly, despite never having been there before. As he put a loaf of bread into his basket, he re-checked the list and found the only thing he had left to get was ice cream. He looked up, and saw a sign for dairy products. He followed it, and saw that the ice cream freezer was just behind it.

As he neared the freezer, its huge size struck him and he wondered why such a small town would consume so much ice cream. The second thing he noticed was the variety of flavours: every flavour possible was in there, including ones he had never seen before, like avocado! Nathan wasn't sure what his Aunt Deb would want, so he stuck his hand in and picked up a tub, hoping that it wasn't wood apple or something else equally disgusting. Before he had a chance to read the label he heard a voice say, "Good choice."

Nathan looked up and saw that there was a girl standing next to him, also buying ice cream. He raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly.

"The ice cream," she smiled. "Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip."

"Oh," Nathan looked at his hand and saw that was what it was. "I've never had it before," he admitted.

"Well, it's great. You should try it."

"So you recommend it?"

"Absolutely. And I consider myself something of an expert in the field," the brunette said with the same smile.

Nathan could only look at her, intrigued. At first he had thought it was some weird attempt at flirting with him, but now he realized she was just being friendly. And she had never even met him before. He couldn't work out whether he was more intrigued or confused, but she was definitely beautiful…Just because she wasn't flirting with him, it didn't mean that he couldn't start…But then he remembered.

One of the first rules he and Jake had been given by their boss back in Charleston had been, "Don't form attachments". Since they couldn't reveal their true identity without risking the case, they weren't supposed to date anyone.

Nathan smiled back and told her, "Well, then I'll try it," and walked away to look for his cousin.

He found Lucas in the pasta section, taking a packet of spaghetti off the shelf. "Luke, you finished?"

"Almost," he frowned. "Just got two more items to go."

"Well, tell me one of them and I'll get it."

Lucas looked at his list. "Eggs."

Nathan then went to get them, leaving Lucas to wonder whether spaghetti was better than pasta shapes, or if he should just choose fettuccini instead. And who decided to come up with so many different types of pasta anyway?

Lucas was on the verge of calling his mother and just asking her what she preferred, when he recognized the person who was now coming down the aisle. He tore himself away from the pasta debate and was surprised to see one of his teachers from school. "Hi, Miss."

"Hello, Lucas. How were your holidays?"

"Okay; not very interesting though. Yours?"

"The same. So, are you looking forward to school starting tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly

"Really? I meant it sarcastically," she laughed.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll miss the holidays, but I am looking forward to being a senior."

She smiled. "Well, I'll let you get back to your pasta. I'll see you in school tomorrow, then."

"Yeah. And my cousin," Lucas added before he could stop himself.

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah. He's…" Lucas quickly remembered Nathan's cover story, "from Charleston, but going to be repeating his senior year at Tree Hill."

"I see. Well, that's nice; you two will be in the same class. Unless, it's a cousin you don't like."

Lucas laughed. "No, we're good friends really."

"That's good. See you, Luke."

"Bye, Miss James."

**A/N: The next chapter will introduce Haley and Peyton and their background in the story. Don't forget to review:) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thanks so much for all your reviews. I've never gotten so many for a first chapter before (or actually, any chapter in itself I don't think). I'm so happy so many people like it too! Now, onto the story…**

**Chapter Two**

Haley James unlocked the door to her apartment as she tried to balance the groceries in her other hand. She managed to get inside and close the door behind her, but some of the bags were starting to slip from her hands.

"Pey?" she called her roommate for help.

"Coming!" Peyton put her book down on the bed, and came out of her bedroom to help Haley carry the bags.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Peyton said as they put the bags down on the island in the kitchen. "Did you get everything we need?"

"Yeah."

The girls began to unpack and Peyton pulled out a tub of ice cream. "Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip?"

"I know. I was trying to decide which one to get, and this guy took that out of the freezer and I thought I'd get that since we haven't had it in ages."

"Hmm…" Peyton mused as she put the ice cream in the freezer. "I wonder if you'd have noticed it if it was a girl who was buying it."

"Pey! Think of who you're talking to. I notice my food, especially my candies, more than guys."

"Unfortunately, that is the sad truth. So…was he cute?"

"Who?"

"The guy buying the ice cream!" Peyton exclaimed. "Haley! You need to be aware of these things. You never know when true love could strike."

"I have a boyfriend," Haley reminded her friend.

"Did I say boyfriend? No, I said 'true love'. And don't try to tell me that your pathetic excuse of a boyfriend is your true love. You're a lit teacher, Haley. With all those epic romances you've read and taught, there's no way you could believe that Chris," here Peyton made a choking sound, "Keller is your soulmate."

"Chris is my boyfriend. We have fun. And, no, I don't think he's my soulmate," Haley said slowly for emphasis. "But, I don't get why you hate Chris so much?"

"Well, firstly, you're my best friend and roommate so I've got to look out for you Haley-bop."

Haley made a face. "I wish my parents never told you about that."

"Come on, it's cute. Oh, and, secondly, Chris is just not good enough for you. Thirdly, he asked you to come with him to California for the summer and when you couldn't go because like the angel that you are you signed up to teach summer school he went any way, with his many friends, half of whom are plastic blond bimbos who hang on his every word. Fourthly-"

"That's okay, Peyton. You can stop there."

Peyton shrugged. "Probably a good thing since the list is endless."

"Maybe we should talk about your love life? Since you don't actually have one?"

"Gee! Rub it in my face, why don't you, Hales."

Haley laughed. "That's not what I meant. You just spend so much time trying to find someone for me who you think is better than Chris Keller that you don't find anyone for yourself."

"But isn't the moral of all your classic romance novels that when you look for love you never find it? Like in Emma."

"Maybe so. But, Emma also taught us that when we try to match-make our friends things can go horribly wrong."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "Do not try to insinuate that Chris Keller is Robert Martin to your Harriet Smith. He's not even Mr. Elton! Besides, you're really more of an Elizabeth Bennet so we need to find you a Mr. Darcy."

This time it was Haley who rolled her eyes. "Why did I ever make you read all of Jane Austen's novels?"

"Because I lost a bet with you our first year of college."

Haley smiled as she put the plastic bags away, now they had finished unpacking everything. "I wonder what we would be doing if we hadn't met at NYU 5 years ago and been roommates."

"Well, I for one would not have left the big city to be an art teacher at Tree Hill High," Peyton chipped in.

"Peyton," Haley whined. "Don't say things like that. It reminds me how you're going to leave."

"Thinking about leaving," Peyton corrected.

"So that means you could leave. And you haven't even decided whether you'll wait this whole school year, or leave at the end of this semester if you do go."

Peyton hugged Haley. "Even if I leave, we'll still be best friends."

"But who's gonna be my roommate? Who am I gonna share all the teacher stuff with?"

Peyton frowned. "I hate to say this, but…Chris? I mean, he's already the music teacher at school."

Haley laughed. "It's not the same."

"I know. But, we'll deal with it. And, for now, let's just look forward to school tomorrow?"

Haley raised her eyebrows. "_Look_ _forward_ to school tomorrow?"

Peyton giggled. "Yeah, that definitely wasn't what I meant to say. I mean, after one year of teaching I'm definitely used to it and I can't say I don't enjoy it, but…I still have the same feeling I used to have when I was a student."

"What's that?"

"The end of summer holidays sucks."

Haley smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But, I always tried to see the good side to it."

"There's a good side to writing essays? Or marking them, as you're doing now?"

"With a new year comes new things…new experiences…new people…"

"New romances?" Peyton wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Both girls giggled before starting to make dinner, not knowing how true Peyton's words would soon turn out to be.

**A/N: Most of the details of Peyton and Haley's history are in this chapter, but because it's in their conversation it sort of comes out in bits. Haley lived in Tree Hill before going to NYU, while Peyton had lived in New York. If you're confused about anything else, just ask and I'll clear it up. And for those of you wanting Jake, he'll be here in the next update.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi! Thanks again for the reviews. I'm going on holiday tomorrow and I'm coming back on Monday, but I've already started on the next chapter so I should be able to post that next Tuesday. Until then, here's chapter 3 and Jake!**

**Chapter Three**

Jake Jagielski stood in the office of the man who would be his 'pretend' boss for the next few weeks, if not months. He was impatiently waiting for his partner, Nathan, to arrive before meeting the school principal. Their real boss had told them that the Principal knew of their situation, but Jake and Nathan were only meant to keep his updated with information he really needed to know, like if it concerned the safety of other students. Finally, Nathan opened the door the waiting-room just outside the principal's office.

"What took you so long?"

"Uncle Keith got up late and then we got stuck in traffic," Nathan told him as he brushed down his long shorts."

Irritated more by the tie on his suit that was choking him than Nathan's late arrival, Jake knocked on the door to the principal's office.

"Come in," a deep voice boomed from inside.

Jake opened the door and walked inside, followed by Nathan.

"Hello," the old man behind the desk said. "Please sit down, boys."

"Thank you, Mr. Durham," Jake said as they complied.

"Please, call me Whitey," he said.

"Okay, so…Whitey –" Nathan began.

"Not you, Mr. Scott. Since you're supposed to be a student you have to call me Mr. Durham or Principal Durham," Whitey informed him, "Or just Sir."

"Right."

"Mr. Durham-Whitey," Jake started again, "our boss told us that you have been informed of our assignment."

"Yes, I have, Mr. Jagielski. I'm aware – do you mind if I call you Jake?"

"Not at all."

'Well, then, Jake, I am aware of the basics of yours and Nathan's assignment. I hope you boys find this dealer as soon as possible. Not because I want to get rid of you," he added quickly, "You're especially useful, Jake, since we had trouble finding a history teacher this year, but I want this drug dealer out of my school. And I can't help but hope that Keller will be the man. It would solve two of my problems at once," he said mostly to himself, but Jake and Nathan both heard him.

"Keller?" Nathan asked.

"Chris Keller. He's a teacher. And for the life of me, I can't stand him. If I had been principal when he applied for the position I'd never have given him the job."

The bell rang and Nathan looked around uncomfortably. "Er…so…"

"Oh, off to your classes. I wouldn't want to keep you here just to rant about Keller, although Lord knows I could." Whitey handed Nathan his schedule. "I'm sure Lucas will help you find your way around the building, Nathan. You'll get used to it soon. And, Jake, you can wait in the staff room until your first lesson. It's just three doors down the right of my office."

* * *

Jake was about to enter the staff room feeling much less nervous than he did when going to the principal's office. He put his hand forward to reach the handle and open the door when it opened in front of him and banged him on the head. The female teacher exiting glanced at him and muttered "Sorry" before going away leaving Jake to nurse both a bruised forehead and ego as he walked inside the room. What a way to start the day.

He walked inside the room and observed the teachers were sitting either in groups or separately on the tables. It struck him how much it resembled entering the cafeteria when he was in high school, and his first day at the station. Some things never changed.

Most of the teachers were leaving, and for a moment he wondered whether it was because he had come in. Then, he realized that they were leaving for homeroom. He walked to the first free table he found and placed his briefcase on the table as he sat down. He had two free periods before his first teaching lesson so he thought he might explore the school building during that time. Before he started, Jake decided to make sure he had everything ready for his first lesson. As he was unlocking his briefcase and taking his papers out

"You new?"

Jake looked up and saw a man about his age with crazy hair standing next to him. "Erm, yeah. Hi. I'm Jake Jagielski." He stuck out his hand and the guy shook it.

"Chris Keller." He sat down next to Jake.

Remembering the name from their conversation with Principal Durham, Jake's ears perked up. It had seemed like Whitey had mentioned him more because of his personal dislike for the man, but technically everyone was under suspicion. "So, have you been here long?" Jake asked to start a conversation.

"Not very."

"Um…what do you teach?"

"Music. You?" Jake was about to answer him, but Chris suddenly started rifling through Jake's papers and found out for himself. "Oh, History. Yeah, Chris Keller never liked History much."

Suddenly, Jake understood why Whitey didn't like him. They hadn't even talked for five minutes yet and the man was so irritating! Not only had he poked his nose in his stuff, hardly knowing him, he referred to himself in the third person!

"Well, it's nice to meet you man, but I gotta run for homeroom."

Jake had never been more relieved. "Sure. See you," he said, hoping that he wouldn't.

Jake went back to his work as soon as Chris left the table so he didn't notice the two women who walked in. After spending the next five minutes going over his work, Jake decided he had everything prepared and put it away in his briefcase. He got up from his table and went to the coffee machine. When he got there, the women were standing there also. Jake could tell that they had just come in because he was sure he would have noticed them the first time he walked in.

They noticed him about the same time he saw them and both smiled. "First day?" the blonde asked, much more kindly than Chris had approached him.

"Yeah. I'm Jake Jagielski," he told them.

The blonde shook his hand. "Peyton Sawyer."

"Haley James," her friend said. "You're the new history teacher right?"

He nodded. "Yeah." The girls had both got their coffee now, so it was Jake's turn. He stuck his cup underneath the filter and pressed the button, but nothing came out.

"Oh, the machine's kind of temperamental," Haley told him.

"You have to do this." Peyton showed him how to work the machine and in the process her smooth skin brushed against his hand.

"Th-thanks," Jake finally said when his cup was full.

"No problem. Do you wanna join us?" Peyton gestured to the table they were sitting at.

"Sure."

"So how long have you been in Tree Hill for, Jake?" Haley asked as they all sat down together.

"Only a couple of days actually."

"Oh, where did you live before?" Peyton inquired.

"Charleston. I've been teaching there for the past 2 years," he said remembering his cover story. The truth was he'd actually been working in the force there for the past two years, after he had finished at the academy, after he had graduated from university. "Have the two of you been here long?"

"I was born here and lived here practically my whole life. I went to university in New York and came back last year."

"Haley and I met at NYU," Peyton filled in the blanks. "This is our second year at Tree Hill High. Well, teaching I mean. Technically, it's your sixth year here, Hales," Peyton teased.

All three laughed as Jake did a quick calculation of her age. Five years after she finished school meant she was 24 or 25, maybe 26 if she took a year off school. That wasn't that much younger than him. Only three years at most. "So what subjects do you teach?"

"Art. Not that you can actually teach art, it's-"

"Oh God, here she goes again." Haley rolled her eyes.

"It's true," Peyton protested. "You can sort of help people with art, but the word 'teach' I strongly disagree with."

"I teach lit," Haley told him just as the bell rang. "Oh that's the end of homeroom. I have a lesson now. See you at lunch?" she asked Peyton, who nodded. "And maybe you too Jake. It was nice meeting you."

Soon, Haley had left and it was just Peyton and Jake alone in the staff room. Well, old Mr. Hardman was sitting in a corner, but he was asleep as usual so he didn't count.

"So when's your first lesson?"

"In another two periods," Jake replied. "You?"

"The period after this. So, um…" _Why was she so nervous? She'd met new teachers before._ "Have you met any of the other teachers?"

"Er, just one. Mr. Keller?"

"Ah. I take it from the look on your face you don't like him very much."

"That obvious, huh? Do you know him?"

"Actually, yes. He's Haley's boyfriend."

"Oh." Jake felt particularly glad that he hadn't mentioned him when Haley had been there. "Um…well I guess I don't really know him…"

"It's okay. He gets worse the better you do know him," Peyton informed him.

"So you…"

"Don't like him either? No," Peyton answered. "Unfortunately, for Haley, I have to put up with him. But why don't we talk about something besides Chris Keller."

"I agree."

"Would you like to go on a tour of the school?" Peyton offered.

"I'd love to."

* * *

Lucas and Nathan walked out of their homeroom together, having been put in the same class as they had the same surname. "So, what's your first period?" Lucas asked.

Nathan took out his schedule and checked. "Lit."

Lucas looked over and remarked, "Hey we're in the same set for that and another subject as well. But, lit is gonna be great."

"Whoopee."

"I can't believe you don't like literature."

"I don't not like it; I just don't like it as much as you do. I always found it hard."

"It's not hard."

"Maybe not for you, Mr. I read two books a day."

"Well, I can guarantee you that you'll like literature this time. Our teacher is awesome; I had her last year too."

"Is she hot?"

"Nate!"

"What? I don't need any of this stuff, 'cause I've already graduated ages ago. You came for my graduation, Luke. I just have to sit through these lessons, so if she's hot that'll help time go by."

Luke rolled his eyes. "It'd serve you right if our teacher was an old lady, but she's not, and I think she's quite pretty. But, we're here now so you can see for yourself."

Lucas walked inside the room and smiled at the teacher standing in front of the desk. "Hi, Miss James."

"Hi Lucas."

"This is my cousin, Nathan. He's in our class too." Lucas gestured behind him. Nathan stepped forward when he heard his name said, but stopped abruptly when he saw his new teacher. _The ice cream girl! _


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm back:) Thanks so much for all your great reviews, I have never got so many before for so few chapters! Hope you like this chapter. For you Brooke/Brucas fans: Brooke will be in the next update. **

**Chapter Four**

Peyton Sawyer paid the take-out guy and returned to the kitchen of her apartment with their food. "Food's here, Hales."

"I know," she said coming out of her room.

"How did you know?" Peyton asked as she looked for plates.

"I smelt it," Haley said as if it was obvious.

"That is just weird girl."

"I also heard the doorbell ring."

"Oh. So how was your first day of the year?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"Okay. I got this one weird kid in my sophomore class who wouldn't draw anything other than a dome," Peyton told her.

"That is weird. But, no, I didn't have anything like that. Although…do you remember how I told you that I got us Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip 'cause I saw this guy buying it that day?"

"Yeah."

"Well that guy is also one of my students."

"What? When you said 'guy' Hales I didn't think you were staring at some sixteen-year old!"

"Peyton!" Haley exclaimed. "I told you I wasn't staring at him. And he's a senior so he's not sixteen."

"Well the fact that he's your student does make it kind of illegal for you to be having thoughts about him, Hales."

"I wasn't having 'thoughts'," Haley said in air brackets, "I just said he was kind of good-looking."

Peyton gasped. "No, you didn't!"

Haley realized too late that in their conversation she hadn't told Peyton she thought the ice cream guy was cute. "Um, well…"

"I can't believe this. Haley James! He's your student. Oh my God."

"Peyton, stop overreacting. So, he's kind of handsome-"

"Handsome? Ooh, that's a step up from good-looking." Peyton teased.

"Will you listen to me? I'm trying to explain to you that this is not a big deal."

Peyton put her hands on her hips and grinned. She knew perfectly well that it wasn't a big deal; she just loved making fun of Haley. "Or what?"

"Or…" A glint came into Haley's eye as she thought of something. "Or I'll make fun of you about Jake!"

"Wh-what! What do you mean make fun of – there's nothing to make fun of," Peyton said quickly.

"Hmmm. If that's what you say." Haley walked by her and started taking out cutlery.

"Really, Hales. There's nothing there," Peyton repeated.

"Of course there isn't, Pey," Haley said as she started taking the food out of the containers and putting it on plates.

"I mean, we just met him today and you know how weird it was on our first day when no one talked to us. And at least we had each other, Jake didn't know anyone. I was just being friendly. And, I mean, you liked him too," Peyton stammered.

Now grinning even more, Haley replied, "But I didn't like him as much as you did."

"Haley! It's nothing like that."

"You know, it's kind of funny Pey. You say there's nothing, yet you seem to be really agitated about it. Kind of makes me think that there is something there." And with a wink Haley took her plate and walked to the couch.

* * *

"Nathan? Nathan, are you there?"

"What?" Nathan replied, suddenly looking up.

Jake studied his partner, who looked somewhat dazed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then you heard everything I just said; about the case?"

"Of course I did," Nathan lied. They were at the Tree Hill Police Station so that they could go over some details of the case, but Nathan's mind kept wondering.

"O-Kay. So, since we're done with that, how was your first day at school?"

"Um, it was okay. Knowing Lucas kind of helped," Nathan said, debating whether or not to mention his literature teacher. He hadn't told Jake about her when they'd 'met' at the supermarket so it might seem weird that he mentioned it out of nowhere. But, he could introduce the subject casually, like it was funny. Which it was, in a way. At least, Lucas had thought it was funny after Nathan had had to explain. Surprisingly, she had recognized him too, but as they hadn't really spoken that day, it hadn't really been a big deal. Nathan was just glad he hadn't flirted with her at that day at the supermarket. "What about you?"

"Yeah, it was alright. The students were okay, although the whole teaching thing will probably take a little getting used to. Didn't like most of the staff much though."

"No?'

"Well, they don't really talk much. I only got to know these two girls; they were nice."

"What do they teach?"

"Uh, Peyton teaches art and Haley teaches literature," Jake said, making sure to stick to his plan of talking about both together so that Nathan wouldn't pick up anything if he accidentally mentioned Peyton more.

"Um…is Haley's surname James?" Nathan asked, keeping his tone light. He'd wanted to ask Lucas if he knew her first name, but couldn't think of a way to ask without it sounding a weird question. His schedule only told him she was H. James.

"Yeah, I think so. She's one of your teachers?"

"Yeah." Nathan nodded.

"She's nice," Jake told him, not worried about talking too much about her. The danger was if he talked too much about Peyton. "I don't like her boyfriend though."

"Boyfriend?" Nathan said immediately. "So…" Nathan quickly recovered, "he's also a teacher?"

"Yeah, he teaches, um, what was it?" Jake paused for a moment. "Music! That's it. You don't have that subject, do you?"

"No."

"Well, I don't know what he's like as a teacher, but he's really annoying!"

"Huh…" Nathan reflected. "Um, what's his name again?" he asked as casually as possible.

"Chris Keller," Jake replied. "You see a teacher walking around with crazy hair and a stupid smirk on his face; that's him." Jake picked up his phone and checked the time and started packing his things away. "We should probably leave about now. We have school tomorrow, after all. Didn't Keith and Deb give you a curfew?" Jake joked.

Nathan forced a smile, even though he wasn't really in the mood. "Nah. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Sort of."

"What, you planning on cutting?"

"No," Jake laughed. "You'll see me, but you can't act like you know me since I'm not teaching you."

"That's true. They should have put me in your class; then I could bug you in all your lessons."

"Well, I'd have a simple solution for that, Nate."

"What?"

"Detention."


	5. Chapter 5 Part A

**A/N: This ended up being a long one, so I decided to split it into two. Keep those reviews coming! **

**Chapter Five**

**Part A**

Lucas Scott closed his locker before he turned to his cousin Nathan, at the locker next to him. "Hey, man, I've been assigned to show this new student around school. Do you wanna come with me to meet him?"

"Mmmm…" Nathan contemplated it as he put the last book in his bag and then closed his locker as well.

"It means you get to miss some of your first lesson," Lucas told him.

"Well, why didn't you say so before?" Nathan followed Lucas to the principal's office as the bell signaling first period rang. "So who's the kid you gotta show around school?"

"Some guy. Davis something," Lucas said. "Oh, Dad wants to know if your Mum's going to be visiting us since you're here."

"She didn't say so. I mean, she's got to take care of the café and everything. I guess if the case goes on for a while, then she might drop by for a visit. Hey, isn't this the principal's office…" Nathan gestured to the door in front of him.

"Yeah," Lucas said, before stopping to a halt when he saw the person standing in front of the door. Unexpectedly, it was a girl.

She turned around, having heard their voices amidst the quiet halls now that everyone was in their classes.

Nathan turned to Lucas, who was now staring at her. Clearing his throat, Nathan began, "Hi; are you the new student?"

"Yeah," the brunette smiled and flashed her cute dimples as she brushed her fringe out of the way. "I'm Brooke Davis."

"Nathan Scott. This is my cousin Lucas." Nathan looked to Lucas, hoping he would take over now, but he was still staring. He cleared his throat again, before smiling apologetically at Brooke and then poking Lucas hard in the ribs.

"H-hi!" Lucas finally choked out.

Brooke grinned at him. "Hi. So which one you two are supposed to show me to my locker?"

"That'd be me," Lucas piped up, appearing to have finally found his voice again.

"Well, then let's go, stud." Brooke winked at him, which seemed to cause Lucas to choke up once again. Nathan sort of nudged Lucas in Brooke's direction and he recovered himself, before taking her to find her locker.

Now alone in the hallway, Nathan looked around. The halls seemed different now that they weren't swarming with students. They were much quieter, making it easier to hear Brooke wasting no time in flirting with Lucas and his nervous replies. Turning away from them, Nathan took a few steps down the hall in the opposite direction, debating whether to hang around or go to class and leave Lucas with Brooke. As he decided on the latter, Nathan heard a noise a few feet away from him. Looking up, Nathan saw that just in front of him was another door – it was a janitor's closet. The glass portion of the door was only partially see-through, but Nathan could make out two figures in there.

_It was a deal!_ The thought struck him immediately and got stuck in his head so he couldn't imagine it being anything else. Slowly, he turned the handle on the door…

* * *

"…and then when my Dad got promoted they let him chose his place of work and since some of his family lives in North Carolina he chose the office here," Brooke finished just as she closed her locker.

"So, do you like it in Tree Hill?" Lucas asked, making their way back to Nathan.

"Well, I haven't even spent a week here yet and I'm still missing my old home, but it's okay. It's definitely looking better now," she said with a wink, causing Lucas to blush for what felt like the tenth time in less than five minutes. "So you and Nathan are cousins?"

"Yeah. He's older – by a year. Nathan used to live in Charleston, but his mum sent him here to live with me and my parents to repeat his senior year."

Brooke nodded, slightly wondering why Lucas gave her so much information about Nathan, but then shook it off. He seemed nervous and it was obviously because of her and she reveled in that fact. She always loved making boys squirm, especially ones as cute as Lucas.

"Hey are you okay?"

Brooke looked up at Lucas, wondering why he was asking her if she was okay. Then she noticed he had directed the question at Nathan who was now in front of them seemed a little different than when they had left him. His face was all red.

"Yeah, you look a little flustered," she told him.

"I'm fine," he said, assuredly. "I just…I, um…"

"What?" Lucas prodded.

"I sort of – accidentally," Nathan added because Brooke was there, "opened that closet door."

"So?" Brooke wondered.

"There were two people in there...making babies."

Brooke giggled, and Lucas couldn't help but grin as he looked over Nathan's shoulder at the door in question. "Oh, yeah, that closet is really more like the make-out room."

"A warning of that would have been nice," Nathan said.

"Well, I didn't know you were going to fall into it."

Brooke laughed again just as the bell rang. "The first lesson's already over?"

"No, the bell just rings every fifteen minutes here."

"Oh. Well, since you told me how to get to my lesson, I think I'll go there now. Bye Nathan."

"Bye."

"See you Lucas. Maybe even in there…" she gestured towards the closet before walking away, leaving Nathan laughing at Lucas' stunned expression.


	6. Chapter 5 Part B

**A/N: I wasn't going to update so soon, but this was already written and I have tests tomorrow and the day after (urgh) so I thought I'd post this and then at least I'll have something to look forward to, i.e. reviews hint ;)**

**Chapter Five **

**Part B**

Peyton idly sipped her coffee, bored now that Haley had left for her lesson and she didn't have anything to do. She thought about going to the art room, but everything was already set up for the next period, and she wouldn't know what to do there either.

The door to the faculty room opened and Peyton looked up to see Jake enter. He immediately spotted Peyton and smiled at her. Nervously, she smiled back. She made a show of concentrating on her coffee cup, but over its rim her eyes watched him walk inside and then towards her.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked.

"No, it's fine. So, how was your class?" she asked as he put his briefcase down and sat on the chair opposite her.

"It was okay. I'm not sure how good I am at it though."

"But, you've been teaching for so long. You must like it to have stayed at it these past few years."

Jake's eyes grew wide at his slight slip, but then just slowly nodded his head. "Well, yeah, I mean…I love making a difference in kids' lives!" he said quickly, despite the fact that he truly preferred his real job and dealing with criminals than some of the misbehaving kids in his class.

"Okay," Peyton rolled her eyes at his sudden enthusiasm.

"So, um, what do you like to when you're not teaching?" Jake asked.

"I draw a lot. I know that may sound a little clichéd, but I just find it really relaxing. Other than that…just typical stuff, I guess. Watching movies; hanging out with Haley."

"You guys are really close, huh."

"Yeah. So, what do you do when you're out of school?"

"Well, I like playing basketball. Me and Na-one of my friends at my old school, we used to play together a lot."

"Do you –" But Peyton never got to finish the question she was about to ask him because a loud voice interrupted her.

"Hello!"

"Oh. Hi Chris," she said, with mock sweetness.

"What are you two up to?" he asked, turning the chair in between them backwards and sitting down on it.

"Well, we were in the middle of a conversation," Jake told Chris, doing his best to remain calm.

"Well I overheard you were talking about school so it couldn't have been that interesting. Unless you like art," he gestured to Jake, "or you like…what was it? History? Now music is an international language." Chris began to drone on about music and its different forms. Peyton looked at Jake apologetically. He gave her a half-smile back and sighed.

* * *

"So, Nate it's time for your girlfriend's class," Lucas told his cousin as they made their way to their next lesson. 

"What?" Nathan exclaimed, fully aware that their next class was Haley's class. "What are you talking about man? She's not my girlfriend; she's, like, our teacher. And you're the one who said she's your favourite teacher, so, if anything, she's your girlfriend, not mine."

"Jeez. Calm down, Nate. I was just kidding with you since you were flirting with Miss James at the supermarket."

"I wasn't flirting with her!" Nathan said defensively. "I told you she was at the ice cream freezer and we were both picking flavours. I said, like, two lines to her!"

"There's no need to get so touchy. Can't you take a joke?" Lucas asked as they walked into class and saw they were the first to get there, aside from three other students, who included Brooke.

She saw them as soon as they entered, and made sure to flash a smile at Lucas. "Well, hello boys. Lucas."

"H-hi." He choked and started to go to his usual seat when Nathan sort of pushed him in a different direction, forcing Lucas to sit down next to Brooke if he didn't want to look like an idiot.

Nathan sat down on the other side of Lucas and then nudged him. "Looks like your girlfriend's in this class too," he said, but soft enough so Brooke didn't hear. Lucas glared at Nathan. "What's the matter?" Nathan asked. "Can't you take a joke?"

Haley came in soon after them, causing Nathan to shut up and Lucas was so nervous since Brooke was sitting right there and kept grinning at him that he didn't notice Nathan's behaviour. Haley saw Brooke and came up to them, leading Nathan to concentrate on taking his books out of his bag, all the while watching Haley talk to Brooke out of the corner of his eye.

Since Brooke was already on Haley's register she soon went back to her desk at the front. The rest of the students got there by the time the second bell rang so it was time to start the class. Once she had quickly taken register she handed copies of a poem to the people sitting at the front and they passed it down. When he got his poem Nathan turned it overand found itwas called To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell.

"Has anyone read this poem before?" Haley asked the class.

Lucas raised his hand. _Typical_, Nathan thought.

"Lucas, can you tell the class what the poem is about?"

"Well, To His Coy Mistress deals with a number of themes," Lucas began like an expert – Nathan wouldn't be surprised if he became a teacher one day, "but a main one would be the brevity of time."

"What the hell is that?" one of the jocks asked from the back of the class. Some of his friends laughed.

"Why don't we read the poem first and then discuss it. Any volunteers?" Not surprisingly, there were no raised hands this time. Brooke didn't mind reading, but it was her first day as school and she didn't want to particularly come across as a nerd. Haley had expected that reaction, however, and then said, "Why don't our two new students read? Nathan could you read the first part, and Brooke could you read the second?"

Brooke nodded, but Nathan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. She wanted him to read a poem? Out loud?

He looked down at the paper before him and started to read. His voice came across as monotonous as he wasn't familiar enough with the subject to know when to change his expressions, but the only people who really noticed that were Lucas, Brooke and, of course, Haley.

As he read Nathan became aware of the fact that Haley was no longer standing at her desk, but was moving; walking up and down between the desks.

_What the hell is this thing about?_ he thought suddenly. _Oh, yeah, "_the brevity of time_." What the hell is that? Brevity…sounds like brief. So, the briefness of time? Well, that kind of makes sense. Well, no it doesn't, but the poem is starting to make sense. _As he continued reading, Nathan noticed the sound of Haley's footsteps were getting louder – she was coming up next to him! _Just keep reading, Nate. Keep reding – but this thing is so boring! – does that line say he wants two hundred years to adore each of her breasts? This poem is about sex! – Keep reading! _he mentally argued with himself. _Don't look up. Do not look – whoa, she has a great ass. – What the hell is wrong with you? She's supposed to be your teacher; you can't be staring at her ass! – But it's right there! And – _

"Nathan?"

His eyes locked with Haley's as she turned to look at him and all at once two dreadful realizations hit him: not only had he stopped reading, but she had caught him staring at her ass.

"Are you having trouble with that word?"

"The, um, the word?"

Haley took two steps back so she was standing by his table and placed her finger on the word in question, which was in the line he hadn't read. It said 'winged' only there was an apostrophe on the e, so it read 'wingéd'.

"You pronounce the apostrophe so its wing-ed, Haley told him, thinking he had stopped reading that line because of that word, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just been admiring her nether region.

Nathan just nodded and quickly finished off his part, and gladly let Brooke read the rest.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Brooke Davis had been attending Tree Hill High for just over a week now and was still having a little trouble settling down. It wasn't that she didn't like the place, but at her old school she'd been one of the most popular girls in their year, as well as captain of the cheerleading squad despite the fact that she'd only been a junior. All that had changed when her Dad had announced they were moving and she'd have to start all over again for her senior year, which should have been the best year of her high school life.

At Tree Hill, the cheerleading squad had no free spots left and she wasn't doing too well in the friends department either. There was this one girl, Bevin, who was nice and she liked to hang out with, but Bevin's best friend Rachel, captain of the cheerleaders, hated Brooke and she had no problem with that since she hated her back. It was sort of ironic because she was who Brooke was at her old school, but Brooke tried to ignore that fact.

As Brooke made her way into the auditorium for that morning's assembly she looked for an empty seat rather than a friendly face, but luckily found both.

"Hey, Brooke?" She looked up to see Lucas and Nathan making their way into one of the rows. "You wanna sit with us?" Lucas asked.

She smiled widely at him. She walked up to them and sat with Lucas on her right and Nathan on his right. Surprisingly, she had found herself hanging out with Lucas and Nathan more than anyone else. She had quite a few lessons with them, especially Nathan, but although he was a very good-looking guy she was more attracted to Lucas. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was always so shy around her, even when she wasn't blatantly flirting with him. "Thank you," she whispered to him as the assembly began.

Lucas just nodded, before turning to his right and mouthing, "Thanks," to Nathan for forcing him to call Brooke to come sit with them. Nathan gave him a thumbs-up sign before returning his gaze to the assembly. He had never been very attentive at assemblies when he actually went to school, but here all the teachers had to sit up front on the stage.

For most of the assembly Nathan didn't pay much attention, but at the end a special announcement caught his attention. All students in the senior class were to be assigned one member of faculty who would be their counselor for the rest of the year. Or it might have been mentor. Well, it was something like that. Despite the fact that he never looked anywhere but the stage, Nathan really wasn't paying attention.

Brooke, Lucas and Nathan got up with everyone else to exit the auditorium. Nathan took the usual turn right to go to his class when he was stopped by Brooke.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"My class is this way."

Both Lucas and Brooke looked at him strangely. "Nathan," Lucas told him, "we don't have class. We're getting our first couple of lessons free while everyone meets with their counselor. We're supposed to go down to the principal's office and check the list outside his door."

"Oh. Yeah, I forgot."

"You didn't hear the freaky bio teacher go on about how important it is for us to bond with our counselor?" Brooke wondered.

"He was a little freaky," Lucas agreed.

"And somewhat scary too," Brooke added. "I just hope he's not my counselor."

"So, who do you want to be your counselor?" Lucas asked Brooke as the three of them slowly walked to the principal's office.

"Well, I don't know any of the teachers really well, but I wouldn't mind that hot new history teacher."

"Ja-I mean, Mr. Jagielski?" Nathan said, sharing a look with Lucas above Brooke's head.

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, or I wouldn't mind getting a cool female teacher. Like Miss James or my French teacher."

"Who's your French teacher?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Well, I couldn't pronounce her name so I forgot it. But she's cool. "

Nathan laughed at Brooke's admission.

"Hey, I think the schedule's here," Lucas guessed, when they saw the mass of students around a notice board.

"There's no way all three of us are gonna make it through that," Brooke observed.

Looking at the scene in front of them, Nathan commented, "It seems kind of weird that they're all so eager to find out anyway."

"Tell you what, I'll go see who we each got assigned to and then come back and tell you."

"Thanks, Lucas," Brooke said as she took his bag from him.

"So…" Nathan began.

"So, how are you and Lucas cousins?" Brooke asked, deciding to start a conversation.

"My Dad and his Dad are brothers."

"So are your Dad's as close as you guys are?"

Nathan gave a half-smile. "Not really. Uncle Keith, Lucas' Dad, hasn't spoken to my Dad since before I was born."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Brooke said quickly.

"It's okay."

"So who do you want to get as your counselor?" Brooke decided to move to a safer subject.

"Um…" Nathan looked like he was thinking, although there was really no thinking involved at all.

"I'm back!" Lucas announced his return.

"Oh, who did I get?" Brooke asked excited.

"Miss James."

"Who did you get?"

"Miss James."

"Who did Nathan get?"

* * *

"Chris Keller." The man himself leaned his arm across the desk to shake the hand of the student who he was supposed to mentor or something for the rest of the school year. "But, that's Mr. Keller to you. And your name?"

"Nathan Scott," he said with a grimace.

"So you mind if I call you Nate?"

"Actually, yes –"

"Excellent. So, Nate, do you have any career plans?"

"Well…I think I might join the police force after I finish school," Nathan said sarcastically.

"You're got plans. Great! Makes my job a hell of a lot easier. I like you, Nate," Chris told him.

_She's dating him? _Him_? I mean…_

"So, Nate, how about you and Chris Keller talk about music?" he asked.

_Did he just refer to himself in the third person?_

"What types of music do you listen to?"

"A couple of different types. Mostly rap."

Chris tutted and shook your head. "You're wasting your time there. You should listen to some real music. Wanna hear some?"

"Well, -" Before Nathan could finish Chris reached behind his desk and pulled out a guitar.

"Now would you like to hear a cover or a Chris Keller original?"

_Kill me now._

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Nathan abruptly turned in his chair to see who it was. The door opened to reveal a slightly older woman, who Nathan vaguely recognized as Principal Durham's secretary. "Mr. Keller?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, there's been a mix-up. Mr. Scott was supposed to be assigned another tutor."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see you around, then, Nate."

_I hope not._ "I suppose so," Nathan responded with a smile on his face.

"And don't forget your dream of being in the – army, was it?"

"Police force," Nathan corrected him as he walked out. The secretary had a boy standing next to her, who she was now ushering inside Chris Keller's room. "Good luck," Nathan told him.

The boy looked at him somewhat strangely, but then started to understand when he saw the guitar on Chris' lap.

The secretary closed the door and then she handed him a piece of paper. "This is the room you're supposed to go to."

"Thanks. Who's the teacher?" he asked, as she started walking away.

"Oh. I'm not sure. Mr. Durham told me the room number."

* * *

Nathan tentatively knocked on the door to the room the secretary had sent him to.

"Come in," a soft voice called.

Nathan opened the door and poked his head inside. He saw a petit young woman bending down to organize a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. Her back was to him so all he could see was her long auburn hair cascading down her back and her ass. _No, it couldn't be…_ "Miss James?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Haley turned around and smiled at him. "Nathan! Come on in."

He went inside and then stood somewhat nervously by the door.

"Well, what are you doing over there?" she asked, laughing. "Come sit down." She gestured to the chair near him. However, unlike in Chris Keller's room the chair was not behind her desk, but to the side of it, and her chair was directly opposite it. As Haley sat down in her chair, Nathan realized that there would be very little space between them and grew more nervous. Still, he couldn't stand there the whole time, especially after she had asked him to sit so he put his bag down by the door and then sat down.

"I don't think I remember reading your name on my list."

"No, there was a mix-up or something. Mr. Durham's secretary came just now and took me out of my session with Mr. Keller," Nathan said before he could stop himself. He observed Haley's face, but her expression seemed to remain the same when he mentioned his name.

"Oh. So did you two gain much ground in discussing your future or college?"

"Not really. We started discussing music though."

Haley laughed. "Did he play you his version of 'When The Stars Go Blue'?"

"Well, he had just taken out his guitar when the secretary came," Nathan said.

She only smiled, but Nathan could tell that the conversation was about to turn to his 'future' and that was something he didn't want. "So – what's 'When The Stars Go Blue'?"

"You've never heard it?" Nathan shook his head. "It's by Ryan Adams."

Nathan paused for a minute. "I've never heard of him either."

"You've never even heard of him? He's so good! I love his work. His latest album; with the Cardinals, 'Jacksonville City Nights' is awesome. You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Haley realized.

Nathan grinned at her. Normally he found people who rambled on like that kind of weird, but with Haley it just made her look even cuter. "No. But he sounds like one of those guys who sits around with his guitar writing melancholy songs."

"Well, I don't think that's what the genre is called, but I suppose he could fit into that category. You're not a fan of that type of music?"

"Not so much. I listen to rap mostly. And hip-hop. I guess you don't like that."

"What? You don't know that," Haley said defensively.

"So you listen to Jay-Z?" Nathan asked, trying to picture it in his head.

"Well, not Jay-Z, but I do like Kanye West. As well as Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D." When Nathan seemed to nod approvingly she smiled at him. "Just because I'm a teacher Nathan, doesn't mean I can't listen to 'cool' music," she said, jokingly.

And there it was. He'd been able to ignore it earlier, but the way she said that last sentence just abruptly reminded him how she thought he was some 18-year-old high school kid. It was times like these when he really wished his case would be wrapped up really soon.

Since Nathan didn't reply, Haley realized they had veered totally off-topic and brought the conversation around. "So, why don't we get back to why we're really here? Have you been thinking about college?"

"Er, I…" He wasn't going to be rude to her like he was with Chris Keller, but he wasn't sure what to say to her either. He decided to go back to how his situation was when he was really in this position as a senior. "I'm not going to college."

"You're not going? You don't want to go…"

"No, it's not that. I just can't. I can't afford it," Nathan replied to Haley's unasked question.

"Oh. Well, did you play any sports in your old school? Because you can get a sports scholarship if –"

"No," Nathan quickly cut Haley off, not wanting to remember what had happened with his potential basketball scholarship. "I, uh…I used to play basketball, but I got injured and I can play for fun, but not with all the training and everything."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, have you thought about what you'll do instead after school? Have you talked to your parents about it?"

"It's just me and my mum," Nathan corrected her. "I've never actually met my Dad." The moment he said it, he wondered why he had confided in her, but then the look on her face made him realize why.

"Oh, Nathan, I'm so sorry." She looked at him with sympathy, and although maybe he would have liked to tell himself it was pity like he got from all Aunt Deb's high society friends, he could tell the difference. He had been trying to convince himself that his attraction to her was because she was pretty, but moments like this forced him to see that she was so much more than that.

Haley truly did feel sorry for Nathan, and as she said so her hand started to move, as if of its own accord, from her lap into his on his hand. It was a kind gesture, and Nathan didn't even seem to notice, but the moment Haley realized she had done it she started freaking out.

_What are you doing, James?_ she asked herself. _You're touching him! There should be no touching! – But, it doesn't mean anything. That's like a comforting gesture. You're just touching his hand. – Which is on his knee. And everyone knows what it means when someone touches your knee – Oh my God I hope he doesn't think that! I have to move my hand without making it seem weird – Stop it, James! You're reading too much into this. Remember that boy this morning, who started crying because of what had happened with his parents? You hugged him. You didn't think there was anything wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with this! Just relax before you freak him out!_

"Er…" Haley decided to open her mouth, but wasn't sure what to say. "You know, if you ever need to talk about it you can always talk to me."

Nathan smiled. He knew he couldn't really go and talk to her about it, but he appreciated the offer."Thanks."

A knock on the door, startled both of them. Before Haley could reply, the handle started to turn. As Nathan turned his head to the door, Haley used the opportunity to move her hand; the loss of its warmth alerted Nathan too late to the fact that it had actually been there in the first place.

Principal Durham stepped half-inside.

"White-Mr. Durham?" Haley said, remembering a student was present.

"Hello Haley. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Nathan's schedule has been mixed up and he's actually supposed to be with someone else for the counseling session."

"Oh?" Haley asked, while Nathan's thoughts were more like, _Oh no._

"Was I supposed to stay with Mr. Keller?" he wondered aloud, horrified.

Whitey couldn't help but smile at Nathan's expression. "No, my secretary sent you to the wrong room after she took you out of there. I'll –" Whitey stopped himself when his cell phone started to ring. "Excuse me one second." He went back outside, leaving Haley and Nathan alone again.

"So…" Haley stood up, and Nathan reluctantly did the same. "I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. As he half-turned to leave, Haley stopped him.

"Um, Nathan? Even though I'm not your counselor anymore, if you ever want to talk about something…well, you know where to find me."

"Thanks."

They both moved, but Haley had forgotten the pile of books she had left right next to the chairs. Her foot knocked into them and she became unsteady, falling backwards.

Nathan realized just in time and reached out to get her before she fell on the ground. His arms wrapped around her waist and instinctively her hands reached for his shoulders to regain her balance. As Nathan's grip around her waist tightened to let her stand, the new position meant her body was pressed up against his.

Both of them were somewhat shocked into silence and they ended up just staring at each other's face for a few moments.

"Are you okay?" Nathan finally asked, not releasing her.

"I think so," she whispered, making no move to break away from him either.

"Sorry about that," Whitey said as he re-entered the room, not noticing Haley and Nathan quickly jerking away from each other. "Nathan shall I take you to your room now or do you need a few more moments to say goodbye to Miss James?" he joked.

"I'll come now." Nathan quickly picked up his bag and put it on his shoulders. Glancing at Haley, she gave him a half-smile, which he returned before following Whitey into the halls.

"I'm sorry to be shuffling you around Nathan like this," Whitey said once they were alone.

"It's okay. What's the problem with the schedule?"

"Nothing. When I found out they had assigned you Keller – as well as feeling very sorry for you – I figured it was just a waste of your time anyway so I asked my secretary to assign you Jake so that you could discuss the case and it gives you a reason to be seen with each other at school, if you ever need to.

_That makes sense_, Nathan thought. _And it's actually a pretty good idea_. But that still didn't mean he wasn't slightly disappointed about not having Haley. Especially after he'd had her for just a few minutes there. "So how come I was just with Miss James?"

"Well, apparently my secretary doesn't know the difference between room 201 and 102," Whitey sighed. "I'll show you where Jake's room is."

A few minutes later Nathan was tapping on the door to enter Jake's room. The door opened and a blonde woman exited, after which Nathan went in.

"Hi."

"Hey, Nate," Jake said and after seeing his friend stopped arranging his files, and relaxed back into his seat. "Are you my next student?"

"Mr. Durham thought it would be a good idea to put me with you so that we could discuss the case."

Jake nodded, showing he agreed.

"So, is that, um…Peyton?" Nathan recalled their conversation from the other night.

"Yeah, she wanted to discuss something" Jake said quickly. "But, since about half the session's over we should really talk about the case."

"Okay." Nathan noticed Jake's abruptness, but put it down to stress. "But, don't you even want to know about my brief session with 'the' Chris Keller?"

Here Jake cracked a smile. "I told you!"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

When the bell rang signaling the end of the only lesson he enjoyed being in – despite the fact that he didn't understand a thing – Nathan started packing his bag along with the rest of the class.

He got up to leave, but on his way out as he passed the front desk, someone stopped him.

"Nathan, could I have a word with you?"

"Uh, sure, Miss James." Nathan glanced at Lucas and Brooke but they were so involved in their conversation that neither noticed him staying behind. Once everyone had left, he asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Your homework. Or rather your lack of homework," Haley said with a smile. "It's a few of weeks into the term Nathan and you haven't handed in anything."

Right. Nathan knew that was true and he did have a good reason for it – he didn't have to do it – but it wasn't like he could tell her that. "Er, yeah, I know."

"Well, are you finding the subject hard?"

"Yeah." Nathan nodded, grasping onto the excuse she gave him. "I guess I didn't inherit the same skills as Lucas did."

"You don't have to inherit it. Lucas is only where he is now after he worked a lot last year, and you can get there too if you work hard at it."

"Yeah, I guess I should try harder."

Haley smiled at him. "You should. And if you have any problems you can always come and ask me."

"I can?" Nathan had thought she was going to tell him to get a tutor or something.

"Well, yeah, that's what I'm here for," she said, laughing. "So will I get this essay in?" she asked, referring to the homework she'd just given them."

"Uh…sure," Nathan replied, not certain if he really would do it, but just because he couldn't say no. Well, he supposed, he could always just do her homework.

"Okay then." Haley collected her books in her arms, the pile so high it almost reached her chin.

"Do you need any help?" Nathan offered.

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Haley shook her head, but the top two books then fell off, and the others started slipping.

Nathan picked the books off the floor and then took a few off her pile. "I'll take these."

"Thank you. I'm only taking them to the faculty room, which is just down this hall."

Nathan followed Haley, deciding to walk alongside her, rather than behind so that his gaze didn't stray downwards again.

"How are your other classes going, Nathan?" Haley asked conversationally to disrupt the awkward silence as they walked.

"Okay." Nathan shrugged.

"So what else do you like to do?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you clearly have little to no interest in school," she remarked, and Nathan couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe a little," he said.

"Just a little? When you're older you'll miss being at school," she told him.

Nathan didn't have to think about it much to see where she was coming from. When he was actually at school he had a lot less responsibility than he did now, although the fact that he had to work meant he had a bit more than most of his friends. Still, there were some bad memories associated with school too. Nathan decided that he would have enjoyed school more if Haley had been at school with him. The thought struck him that if Karen had never moved to Charlotte then they would have been at school together; when he was a senior she would have been a junior. Maybe they would have dated… Realizing that he hadn't said anything for a few moments, he asked her, "Is that why you came back?"

"God, no." Haley laughed. "School is completely different when you're a teacher. And don't think marking those essays is any easier than actually doing them."

"Maybe you could stop giving them," Nathan joked. "Save us all the trouble."

Haley turned to face him and gave him an amused look. "Do you want to graduate?"

Nathan smirked. "Good point." They had reached the faculty room by now so Haley tried to open it by pushing her back against the door, but her weight wasn't enough to push it open fully. Nathan transferred all the books he was carrying into one hand, and put his free hand over her to hold it open. "I got it."

Haley smiled at him. "Thanks. I'll just put these down and be back for those in a second."

Nathan nodded and watched her go inside, balancing the books carefully. She went over to a table at the back of the room where a man and woman were already sitting and put the books down there. They both looked at her and started talking, and it was then that Nathan noticed the man was Jake. He realized that the other woman was the one who had come out of Jake's room that day. Peyton. If Nathan recalled correctly she and Haley shared an apartment. Having a longer time to look at her here than that day, he decided she was pretty – not a pretty as Haley, but not bad.

Haley turned around and started to come back to him and Nathan realized that he couldn't stare at her as he had done when she had gone inside the room. As casually as possible he gazed around the room and, again, noticed Jake and Peyton who were talking to each other. Looking on, Nathan saw Jake seemed to be taking over the conversation, and she actually appeared interested in what he was saying. _Wait…is he flirting with her?_ It looked like Jake was doing that weird thing with his hands that he was did when he was telling a funny story, which he always did with girls he…_Oh, no. He didn't!_

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?" Nathan whipped his head around to face Haley, glad that at least this time he hadn't been staring at any part of her body.

"Thanks so much for carrying these for me," she said as she took them from him.

"Anytime," he replied without thinking. "Er…I mean, no problem."

"Ok-ay. Bye, then." She smiled.

God, she had to keep smiling didn't she? "Bye." Nathan turned away from her, all the while debating with himself whether or not to ask her for a little help with the poem now. He had just convinced himself to ask her, when he turned back around and found that the door hadn't closed itself just yet and through the gap he saw a man's arms appear from the right and drape itself over Haley's shoulders.

"Chris! Not in school," she protested.

"We're in the lounge. It doesn't…" Nathan didn't hear anymore as the door closed. He turned back around and walked away.

* * *

Jake was turning on the TV in his temporary apartment late that night as the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Oh, hey, Nate," he replied as he plopped down on his bed. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I'm just checking up on you."

"_You_ are checking up on _me_?"

Nathan ignored the amused tone in his voice. "Aunt Deb says to tell you that if you ever want some home cooked food to sneak over here."

Jake smiled. "Alright, tell her I say thanks. And as soon as I get fed up of re-heated pizza I'll definitely be doing that."

"So how's the apartment?"

"Oh, it's a total dump. You would think since the department doesn't have to spend money on your accommodation that they could give me a nice place, but no. There's no division between the kitchen and the bedroom so it's like there's only one room plus the bathroom. Even you wouldn't live here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Nate. Your first apartment you lived there with only a sleeping bag and a television for weeks."

"That's all you need!" Nathan protested.

Jake scoffed. "Whatever. So how's school?"

"School's school. So, really, man, how are you?"

"Nathan, are you…_worried_ about me?"

"It's just I have Lucas, you know. You don't really have anyone," Nathan said.

Jake faked 'awed'. "You are worried about me!"

"Shut up."

Laughing, Jake replied, "Well, I'm fine."

"You sure. The teachers aren't picking on you? No one stole your lunch?"

"Okay, that happened one time at the station and you know that was just a joke!"

"They were totally picking on you, newbie."

"I'm not exactly a newbie anymore, am I?"

"Well at Tree Hill High you are."

"Maybe so. But, no, I'm…I'm good."

Nathan decided it was time to prod. "Made any friends?"

"Well…yeah, I told you, remember?"

"Oh, that's right. Miss James, and the…the art teacher, right?"

"Peyton, yeah," Jake coughed out.

"That's cool. I mean, like I said, I've got Lucas. And then there's Brooke."

"Who's Brooke?"

"I told you about her. She's a friend…sort of. She's new; she's got a thing for Lucas."

"Oh, okay."

"So…you want to meet up at the station tomorrow night?"

"Oh…I can't tomorrow."

"Why, you got a hot date?" Nathan asked, only after which did he remember Keith asking Lucas the same thing.

Jake coughed. "No, ha," he laughed, "I just got a lot of papers to mark. How about Sunday night?"

"Sunday should be okay, I think. But, why can't you just mark the papers on Sunday instead?"

"Er…you know me; I wanna get it out of the way."

"Ok-ay. See you Sunday night then."

"Yeah."

Nathan hung up straight after, leading Jake to bite his tongue for lying. Well, it wasn't like he could tell Nathan that he really did have a date tomorrow night.

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter was a little Nathan-centered, but all the characters (and couplings) will be in the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I normally just read my reviews in my inbox without coming to the site so I hadn't realised that I'd surpassed 100 reviews already! Thank you guys so much! **

**Chapter Eight**

Peyton took in her surroundings as the waiter showed her and Jake to their table. The wallpaper was a deep red, but although she wasn't a fan of the colour, it fit in with the rest of the furnishings. Even through the noise from the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, she could hear the soft mood music in the background. As she sat down in her chair she looked over at Jake who she noted look very nice in his suit. Sometimes he did wear a tie to school, but it was something about seeing him outside of school, away from the work and the students that made her appreciate it more. And the romantic atmosphere of the restaurant he had chosen for their date certainly helped.

"Is this place okay?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it's great. I really like it here." In fact, it was probably one of the best restaurants in town, she noted, wondering how he knew after having been in Tree Hill for such a short space of time.

Jake grinned, mentally thanking Haley for her suggestions of where to take Peyton out. He was about to start talking when the waiter re-appeared with their menus. After he had left, Jake began, "So I can't get over your hair." Whereas yesterday it had been past her shoulders and curly, now it was straight and the ends just curved out slightly behind her ears. Her hair also looked a little lighter, and the effect opened her face up more, making her look younger.

Peyton reached a hand up to touch it and giggled. "I had actually been planning to cut it for a while, but I forgot about my appointment this morning until last night when the salon called me to remind me."

Jake ruffled his dark brows. "Do they do that often?"

"Not really. But my hairdresser knows me well and that I always forget."

Jake chuckled. "It looks really nice."

"Thanks." Unsure of where to turn the conversation, Peyton looked down at her menu and started recommending dishes. As she flipped through the menu she crossed her legs and her lower leg accidentally brushed against his trouser. "Sorry," she blurted out and moved her legs back towards her side of the table.

"It's okay," he replied, only briefly looking up from his menu.

Just then she realized that maybe she should have kept her leg there. It wasn't like he had jerked away when she touched him. Or was that too forward on a first date? But it wasn't like they didn't know each other… Peyton started to think, _what would Haley do?_ and then remembered that Haley was far too shy to try any moves even on a fifth date. Deciding to go for it, Peyton slowly switched her legs that were crossed under the table so her left foot came into contact with the side of his trouser.

Peyton watched Jake over the top of her menu and notice his eyebrows briefly rise when she first touched him, but then go back to normal, without him making any move away from her. _Yes!_ Peyton mentally began to do Haley's happy dance.

Just then, a man tried to squeeze in between Peyton and the person sitting at the table behind her. There wasn't enough space so Peyton had to tuck her chair in further and, forgetting to move her leg, ended up poking Jake in the leg with the three-inch heel of her shoe, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Jake grimaced. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh, god." Peyton blushed with embarrassment. "I'm so so sorry, Jake."

"It's okay, I'll be fine."

The waiter came up to them again and inquired, "Are you ready to order?"

Jake nodded, one hand still on his leg, while Peyton buried her face in her menu.

* * *

Nathan received his soda easily, but had to flash his ID to the bartender before getting the drink Lucas wanted. He had promised Nathan only one drink, and the next time they went out Lucas would do the driving home. Lucas had convinced him to come to a club with him, but the only reason Lucas wanted to come was because Brooke had said she was going to be there. Now Lucas was off searching for her, while Nathan mooched around the bar, bored out of his mind. While taking a sip of his soda, he was aware of someone walking up to the bar and standing next to him before ordering a round. Nathan recognized the voice and sharply moved his head to the other side, but he had already been seen.

"Nate!"

"Mr. Keller," Nathan grumbled into his glass.

"Can't go anywhere without bumping into kids these days. Drinking, are you?" Chris chuckled, noticing the drink Nathan had ordered for Lucas. "Have to say I did the same when I was your age. Don't know what I would have done without that good old fake ID."

Nathan wondered whether he could arrest him for that, even though it was a few years ago. He'd have to check up on that. He gave him a tight smile and concentrated on his drink so he'd have an excuse not to talk to him.

"Here you go." The bartender returned with Chris' beer.

"Cheers, Nate." Chris raised a glass to him which Nathan half-returned before he left.

Glancing at his watch, Nathan wondered whether Lucas would mind if he took off. He had probably found Brooke by now, and Nathan would prefer not to be a third wheel, but if he took the jeep home, then Lucas would be without a ride back. Not knowing what else to do, Nathan took out his cell phone and called Jake, but his phone was off.

The music wasn't too loud so Nathan could hear someone else walking up to him. Just in case it was Keller coming back Nathan turned his body away from them. However, instead of hearing Chris Keller, it was a soft female voice that spoke to the bartender. "Miss James?"

"Nathan?"

* * *

"Lucas!"

Hearing Brooke call his name, Lucas turned around and saw the brunette smiling at him, a little more widely than usual. "Hey, Brooke."

"Hey yourself," she beamed, her cute dimples showing. Lucas noted that in her short skirt and long-sleeved top she looked even better dressed up than she did normally, which was saying something, but he didn't have much time to appreciate the view. Brooke half-sauntered, half-hopped the few steps towards him and then jumped up and hugged him. "Hi!" she giggled.

"Brooke, are you okay?" Lucas pulled back, slightly concerned by her behavior.

"Of course I'm okay, silly." Her hand reached out to playfully slap him on the shoulder, but then fell mid-air. "Wanna dance?"

"Are you sure you're alright to dance –"

"Come on, handsome!" She pulled him onto the dance floor and for the next five minutes seemed fine as they danced together. But suddenly, she stopped dancing and put her hand to her head.

"Do you have a headache?" Lucas asked, stopping as well.

She sighed heavily, and her shoulders moved as well. "I think I need to sit down."

Lucas nodded. "Hold my arm," he told her and he helped her support herself. "How much did you drink tonight?"

Brooke raised her left arm in the air and put her thumb and index finger close together, but not touching. "That much."

"It has to have been more than that."

"Maybe a little more than that," she conceded. "But not much."

* * *

Haley and Nathan both looked at each other for a few moments. Haley started to laugh nervously. "So…this is awkward."

Nathan smiled. "You don't bump into many students?"

"Sometimes, but not many. It's always equally awkward."

He nodded, remembering the one time he bumped into one of his teachers when he was at school.

"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked Haley.

"I'll have a coke," she told him.

"You don't drink?" Nathan asked before he could stop himself.

Haley shook her head. "But I see you do," she observed the glasses in front of him.

"That's actually Lucas' drink," he said quickly. "I'm driving tonight."

"But, how did you-" she stopped herself when the bartender came back with her drink. He soon went over to the other side of the bar and Haley said softly, "You're using a fake ID?"

Nathan could only nod. "Yeah," he lied, cringing at the look of disappointment on her face.

"Well…"

"Hi Nathan! Miss James?" Brooke exclaimed when she caught sight of her lit teacher standing next to Nathan.

"Hi Brooke. Lucas." Haley grew more embarrassed by the second.

Lucas just smiled uncomfortably.

They all stood there – or in Nathan's case sat there – saying nothing for a moment until Haley finally picked up her glass and said, "Well I'll see you in school."

"Okay." Lucas nodded.

Haley sent a final smile at Nathan, who returned it, before she walked away. Nathan kept watching her as she returned to her table, which was also occupied by a few other people who included, Nathan sadly noted, Chris Keller. Remembering he wasn't alone, Nathan turned back round to the bar to face his friends just before Lucas noticed, but not before Brooke did.

**A/N: That's the end of this chapter, but the night will continue in the next chapter (which will be quite long) with some drama to come!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The elevator doors closed behind Jake and Peyton as they stepped out onto the landing.

"So what does Haley think of your plan?" Jake asked, continuing their conversation.

Peyton sighed. "She's not very happy about it. Especially since it involves me leaving. She loves it here. I don't think she would ever want to leave Tree Hill."

"And you don't feel the same?"

"Tree Hill's nice. And I liked New York too. But, I suppose I still haven't found the place where I want to settle down. What about you?"

"Well…Tree Hill's alright. I think after I…after I finish here," Jake said, "I'll be going back to Charleston."

"What's Charleston like?" Peyton wondered.

"It's nice. I haven't lived there for that many years now, but it's…it's home," Jake finished.

"And this is mine," Peyton gestured to her apartment door with a grin. "Well, for now at least."

"Ah." Jake stopped walking. "So this is the place."

"Yeah." Peyton nodded.

"So…"

"So, I had a really good time." And she had. After she got over her embarrassment, that is.

"Yeah, me too," Jake agreed.

"You mean, after I kicked you?" Peyton added, before she could stop herself.

Jake grinned. "What? I thought that was the highlight of the evening?"

"Jake! That's not funny. I'm really sorry about your leg."

"My leg is fine, Peyton. You have to stop apologizing." He looked down at her, and Peyton couldn't help staring at his eyes. The looked like chocolate. _God, that sounds so cheesy!_

"Okay," she whispered.

"Well, I…I guess I should…" Jake sort of gestured back to the elevator, but didn't finish his sentence, mostly because he didn't want to go. He was stopped from having to, however, when Peyton suddenly came closer, leaned up and kissed him, catching him off-guard so he didn't have time to kiss her back.

Peyton stepped away as suddenly as she had come forward. She stared at him, unsure of what to do now, licking her lips nervously. "So…thanks for tonight."

Jake couldn't help but smirk. "Thank you."

A suggestion popped into her head, and she forced herself to ask, "Do you want to come in? Haley's not home… I-I could make coffee…" Peyton added, cringing as she said it. _Coffee! Like that's an incentive to come inside!_

Jake leaned forward, and brushed her new fringe to the side. "Coffee sounds nice," he responded, his voice having grown a few notches lower.

"Okay…" Her voice was so soft now he had to listen closely to hear it.

Peyton was now pressed up against the door and he was only a few centimeters away from her. He closed the distance between them and bent down to kiss her. Her arms were already wrapped around his neck before his lips had touched hers. Jake began kissing her gently, but she was much too impatient for that. She kissed him back hard, barely noticing that her hip was knocking into the door knob. His hands trailed down her sides to her waist, his fingers tracing small circles on the material of her dress.

Jake broke away slightly, but only for a second before his lips attached themselves to her jaw. "Maybe we should," he said between kisses, "go inside."

"Mmm-hmmm." Peyton nodded in agreement, but at that point couldn't even remember where her keys were. Besides, going inside would mean stopping this and she definitely did not want to do that.

"Peyton!" A shrill female voice rang through the air and paralyzed both Peyton and Jake in their actions.

Reluctantly, Peyton opened her eyes and saw her neighbour had just come out of the lift and she and Jake were blocking the narrow hallway. "Mrs. Martinson..." Peyton stammered, now she and Jake had broken away from each other and he was looking rather sheepishly at the floor. "Sorry…"

The old lady smiled. "Nothing to apologize for. I was young once too, you know. But this kind of thing is really best suited for the bedroom," she said, causing Peyton to blush even more. "Can you not find your key? Because I have your spare if you –"

"I have my key, thank you, Mrs. Martinson." Peyton quickly picked up her purse from where it had fallen on the ground.

"Well, goodnight then kids," Mrs. Martinson said before she walked around Jake and to her door.

"Goodnight," Peyton replied, while Jake muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'night'.

Just before she went inside her door, Mrs. Martinson looked over at Peyton and gave her a playful wink, the likes of which she had grown accustomed to seeing on Haley's face whenever Jake was mentioned, but seemed somewhat strange on her 60-something year-old neighbour.

Thankfully, Mrs. Martinson didn't stick around any longer.

"Well…" Jake began when the older woman was safely inside her apartment. "That was definitely an evening of firsts."

"Huh?" Peyton looked up, confused.

Jake lifted up a hand and started to count off on his fingers. "First date. First time a neighbour interrupted a date. First time I got kicked on date," he added, playfully smirking at Peyton who had buried her head in her hands. Jake chuckled. "So does this mean there's no coffee?"

"You still want to come in for coffee?"

"Well…" Jake shifted from one foot to another. "I definitely don't want to get busted by anymore of your elderly neighbours."

Peyton giggled as she unlocked the door. "Then, come on in."

* * *

Less than twenty minutes after she had bumped into three of her students at the bar, Haley was entering the restroom. She had claimed she needed to 'freshen up' but, the truth was, she had needed a break form her present company. The friends she was there with were really all Chris' friends, and while she really did enjoy hanging out with most of his guy friends their girlfriends were with them tonight, none of whom Haley particularly liked. Sighing, Haley looked at her reflection in the mirror and re-applied her lip gloss, which had come off after her drink. After ruffling her hair about for a bit she then decided she couldn't stay much longer without an excuse – besides this place didn't smell so good either – so she turned to go back out the door.

As she turned, she saw a familiar figure lying on the corner of the bathroom floor and yelped in surprise. "Brooke!"

The girl tried, but could hardly lift her head up from her position, slumped on the floor. She let out of a partial sound to show that she had heard.

"Brooke, are you alright? What happened?" Haley was now beside her, touching her forehead.

"Sleepy…" Brooke murmured.

"Come on." Haley put her arm around Brooke's waist and lifted her to a standing position. Brooke put her arms around Haley's neck transferring all her weight onto the older, but smaller made woman.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Brooke eyed Haley suspiciously.

"You'll remember in the morning." Slowly, Haley half-carried, half-dragged Brooke out of the bathroom. Luckily, there were some couches right outside the door so Haley made her way over there and put Brooke to lie down. Checking her forehead and her pulse, Haley started to get worried. At first she thought Brooke had had too much to drink, but now a different suspicion was crossing her mind. "Brooke did you take anything tonight?"

"Take what?"

"Did you take any drugs Brooke?"

Brooke lolled her head to one side, which seemed to be her way of shaking her head no.

"Did someone try to give you anything?"

"No…just tired," Brooke whined. "I hate being tired. I wanna do something fun!"

"Brooke you have to go home, possibly see a doctor."

"No! Let's go look for some hot guys!" Brooke lifted her head up a little and squinted at Haley. "Lucas is hot, isn't he?"

"Brooke –"

"You like him don't you! That's mean of you Brooke!"

"But you're Brooke!" Haley shouted exasperatedly. "Please tell me you can remember your name!"

"Of course I'm Brooke. But you can be Brooke too. It's just as well."

"What is?"

Brooke sighed and lay back down again, burying her head in the side of the couch. "I don't think he likes me anyway."

"Brooke you need to –" Haley cut herself off when she realized that she wasn't listening. Immediately, she scanned the crowd, looking for Nathan or Lucas, having assumed that Brooke had come with them. Not seeing any sight of them, or anyone she recognized, she looked helplessly back at Brooke. "Brooke?"

She mumbled incoherently, and snuggled up into the couch further. As she moved, her mobile phone started to slip out of her front pocket. Haley grabbed it as soon as she saw it, flipped the phone open, went to contacts under L and dialed.

Lucas was sitting with Nathan at the bar, wondering what was taking Brooke so long when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and answered it, "Brooke, where are you?"

"Lucas, this is Miss James," she told him.

Lucas paused for a short moment, causing Nathan to glance at him. "Er…hi."

"Lucas, I'm with Brooke. Something's wrong with her."

"What?" Lucas stood up immediately, not unnoticed by Nathan.

"What is it?"

Lucas ignored him. "Where are you?"

"We're on the sofa just outside the women's bathroom."

"I'll be there," Lucas replied, before he hung up the phone.

"Was that Brooke?"

"It was Miss James."

"Wh-What? Wh-Why-Why was she calling you?"

"Something happened to Brooke. Come on," Lucas pulled Nathan into action and they quickly managed to find the ladies' room. Nathan was the first one to spot them on the couch.

"This way, Luke."

Lucas strode ahead and crouched down next to Haley as soon as he reached them. When he saw Brooke passed out on the couch his hand went to his forehead.

"What happened to her?" Nathan asked Haley.

"I-I'm not sure," she told him, seemingly in shock. "I went to the bathroom and I found Brooke just lying there on the floor. I pulled her up and brought her here and then she passed out."

"She seemed like she had had a lot to drink."

"No," Haley jumped in. "I mean, I think she did - she sounded like she did – but she wasn't dizzy, she just couldn't keep her eyes open. I think someone might have drugged her," she admitted.

"We have to get her to a hospital."

When Nathan said the word 'hospital' Lucas stood, and picked Brooke up. Nathan went first, making some space in the crowd so there was room for Lucas and Brooke, followed by Haley, to come through.

Once they got outside Nathan quickly unlocked the car so Lucas could put Brooke in the back-seat.

"Tree Hill Memorial is on 8th Avenue, but if you go back round 5th it's faster."

"I know that short-cut. I'll tell you the way," Lucas said to Nathan as he closed the back-door on Brooke.

"Oh and here's her phone," Haley mentioned, realizing she still had it in her hand. Lucas took it and put it in his pocket, before walking round to the passenger-side. Nathan was already opening the car-door on his side.

"Oh and check her pulse every couple of minutes," Haley added frantically. "You never know what they could have given her so you have to just check."

Her constant insistences made Nathan actually look at Haley properly for the first time since they'd found Brooke and he could see the concern etched on her face.

"Do you want to come with us?" he asked suddenly, making Lucas stop what he was doing.

"Okay." A split-second later she was climbing in to the passenger-seat, leaving Lucas with Brooke in the back.

The drive to Tree Hill Memorial Hospital was made in silence aside from a few directions. As they approached the hospital, Nathan inquired from Haley, "Did Brooke say anything?"

"About what?" Haley wondered.

"About who she was with?"

"No. I tried asking her whether someone tried to give her something but she said no.

"She didn't tell you anything?"

"She didn't recognize me properly. But then her eyes were half-closed."

"She didn't say or ask anything at all?" Lucas pressed.

"She did ask me to look for some, um, hot guys with her, but that was pretty much it," Haley informed them in a muted tone.

Nathan and Lucas didn't have time to reply because they were just pulling up in front of the hospital.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Haley was walking down the quiet halls of the hospital, two plastic cups of coffee in her hands. They had taken Brooke straight to the emergency room and after telling the doctor what had happened, as well as what they suspected had happened, he had gone to attend to her and told them to wait.

Waiting, unfortunately, wasn't something that Haley James did very well. She had been sitting with Lucas and Nathan for a while, but had soon gotten agitated. Once the doctor had left Lucas had immediately gone and sat in a corner and Nathan had tried talk to him. Haley had observed the way he attempted to quietly calm Lucas down, and had noted the 'big brother' thing they had was quite cute, but as it meant she had been waiting alone with no one to talk to, she had ended up getting fidgety so she decided to take a long walk.

While she had been walking around the hospital her mobile phone had started ringing, and it was only when she had checked the caller ID that she remembered she had completely forgotten to call Chris! She had, after all, been gone for over fifteen minutes; he might have thought she had left or something. However, he said he was simply calling to inquire whether she had "fallen into the toilet" and when Haley had filled him in he had replied that he was heading off to some new club with his friends and would call her later.

Now she was heading back to the waiting area to see whether they had heard from the doctor. She was almost there, just turning down the last corridor, but when she got there she only found Nathan. "Where's Lucas?"

Nathan jumped up, surprised by her return. "He's in Brooke's room."

"Is she okay?"

Nathan nodded. "The doctor said she was going to be fine."

"What happened? Was it…"

"Drugs? Yeah. The doctor said the drug was just supposed to cause her to go to sleep, but because she – for whatever reason – didn't have a full dose, the effect was prolonged, enabling you to find her later –"

"In the bathroom," Haley finished.

"Yeah."

Haley shook her head, not knowing how to respond. As well as when she was bored or nervous, she started fidgeting when she was uncomfortable too. She tried to move her arms to cross them in front of her body, alerting herself to the fact that she was carrying something. "This is for you." She handed Nathan a coffee cup.

Nathan was surprised, although he supposed it was the logical explanation for the second cup. "Thank you."

"I didn't know how you liked it so I got creamer and sugar." Haley reached into her pocket with her now free hand and held up the packets.

"I'll just have the sugar." Nathan took it from her and set the coffee down on a ledge beside him so he could make it.

"So…there were no after effects?"

"No." Nathan shook his head. "They just want to keep her here overnight under surveillance but they said they'll release her tomorrow if she feels up to it."

"That's good."

"Well, like I said, Lucas is in her room. I just waited here 'cause otherwise you wouldn't be able to find us. Do you want to go see her now?"

"Sure." Nathan led the way to Brooke's room, which was on the same floor. "Hi," Haley greeted Lucas.

He looked up at her from his chair beside Brooke's bed. "Hey."

"Oh! This is for you." Haley gave him the other coffee cup and the leftover packets of sugar and creamer.

Lucas smiled at her. "Thanks Miss James."

Pushing aside his irrational jealousy upon discovering that the cup she'd been holding had not been hers, Nathan asked Lucas, "Did you call her parents again?"

Lucas nodded. "Still no answer."

"Her parent's aren't at home?" Haley wondered.

"Brooke says they're always away anyway," Lucas explained. "She has their mobile number on her cell though so I've been trying to contact them but no one's picking up."

"So who lives with Brooke?"

"No one really," Nathan informed her. "She has a housekeeper who comes in every other day and she takes care of stuff, but for the most part it's just Brooke."

"But didn't she move here because her Dad has a job here? Why does he have to go away all the time?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Brooke seemed kind of used to the situation when she told us, though."

"Yeah, I think this is kind of how it's been since she was a lot younger."

"Well that doesn't make it any better," Haley said, and both Lucas and Nathan silently agreed. Haley then absent-mindedly checked her watch and realized how late it was. "I suppose if everything's okay I should probably be going home."

"How are you going?" Nathan asked.

'Well, there must be some cabs outside the hospital; I thought I would just go in one of those. My apartment's not far away from here."

"Or I could drop you," Nathan volunteered.

Even Lucas stared at him.

"A-are you sure?" Haley wondered.

"Yeah. I mean, if it's not far. And it'll be easier than if you take a taxi."

"Um…well if it's really okay, then I guess…" Haley decided. "Thanks."

Having finished his coffee Nathan threw the plastic cup in the bin. Haley said goodbye and left first, leaving Nathan and Lucas alone in the room with Brooke. "I'll just take her home and then come back," Nathan told Lucas. "You already told your parents that we're here, right?"

Lucas nodded. "You know…I've been trying to remember what Brooke said earlier tonight…"

"She said who she was with?"

"No, she didn't mention any names. But she did say that it had been some people from school."

"We could ask her in the morning."

"If she remembers. She had had a lot to drink as well."

"Yeah…" Nathan was on the verge of leaving when Lucas stopped him again.

"Hey, Nate? If you and Jake need me to do anything to help with the case, just ask."

Nathan nodded, understandingly. He left Lucas and in a few minutes was in the parking lot, where Haley was waiting for him, by his car. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," she told him.

He unlocked the car and they both got in. After she told him the address of her apartment building he turned on the engine and reversed out of the car park.

Haley and Nathan alternated looking at each other and then the window in the uncomfortable silence. "So-" they suddenly said at the same time, then stopped and looked away.

"Um…" Haley began a few moments later. "Can I turn the radio on?"

"Sure." Haley switched the knob on and the cassette tape automatically went in. Nathan saw it happening and tried to stop the tape, but it was already inside. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

The faint strains of music could be heard so Haley turned the volume up.

_Holiday. Holiday. _

"What is this song?" Haley asked.

"I don't know," Nathan told her. "This is my Uncle Keith's old car. Apparently this tape came with it and it usually gets jammed inside when you try to turn the radio on. I forgot."

_It's an ice cream day!_

"Pretty catchy," Haley commented, causing Nathan to laugh.

"If you fiddle around with the radio, sometimes it comes out."

Haley reached over and played around with the buttons for a little and managed to eject the tape. The radio came on; the Macarena was playing. "Okay, what music taste does your uncle have?"

Nathan chuckled. "What, you don't like the Macarena?"

"You do?" Haley asked, shocked, before she noticed the teasing glint in his eye. "For a minute there I thought you were actually serious."

"I might be," Nathan remarked and started move slightly in his seat, as if he was dancing.

Haley giggled. "You look so ridiculous!"

"Yeah, so did the millions of people who actually did the dance for this song."

"Oh my God, I know! I saw this thing on VH1 and apparently it was number one here for like ages…"

"Like?" Nathan raised his eyebrow at her. "Is that grammatically correct?"

Haley blushed. "Just because I'm an English teacher doesn't mean I have to get it right all the time."

"Actually I think it – like – kind of does," Nathan quipped.

"Okay, but I do when writing. I didn't mean to say like," Haley responded, embarrassed.

"I know," Nathan smirked at her. "It doesn't really matter."

Haley gave him a small smile and then returned to her window. Nathan guiltily thought that maybe she'd been actually annoyed, but that wasn't it. Somewhere in the conversation she'd just felt like they had been crossing some kind of border – one that shouldn't be crossed – and so she had felt the need to keep quiet again. Especially after she'd remembered that that sort of playful banter had fizzled out of her relationship with Chris weeks, maybe even months ago.

"Is this it?" Nathan asked as they neared a tall building.

"Yeah, this is the place. Thanks so much for giving me a lift."

"No problem," Nathan stated, as he put the car in parked mode.

Haley unlocked her door before turning back to him. "So I guess I'll see you in school on Monday."

Nathan nodded.

"Bye."

"Bye, H-Miss James."

She shut the door behind her and was inside the gate when she suddenly turned around and jogged back up to the car, and crouched so that her head was level with the window. "I almost forgot. On Monday could you just tell me how Brooke was, or if the doctor said anything else or something?"

"Sure, but don't you want to ask Brooke?"

"I was thinking of, but, you know, she might not mention everything – and it'll probably be kind of embarrassing for her; so if you or Lucas could just –"

"I'll come tell you in the morning," Nathan jumped in.

"Okay, thanks. Bye." With a final smile Haley turned away from the car and went to the steps leading up to the main entrance into the building. As she took out her keys from her purse, she noticed that Nathan was still there. It was only when she was closing the glass door behind her, and she saw the car start to drive away that she realized he had been waiting for her to go inside before he left.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Over the rest of the weekend Lucas had already warned Brooke about the dangers of drinking with people she didn't know too many times for her not to be annoyed with him. So when he and Nathan showed up at her locker the following Monday morning, and Lucas began sprouting off again, Nathan was surprised that Brooke was able to contain herself.

"How are you feeling?" Nathan asked her, interrupting Lucas' speech.

"I'm fine, Nathan," Brooke replied. "And thank you so much for taking me to the hospital."

"Hey," Lucas said, "I helped too."

"I know," Brooke smiled, "but I've already thanked you like a million times seeing as how you hardly left my house all weekend. I've only seen Nathan twice."

That was true. He had gone with Lucas to see Brooke on two occasions, but the rest of the weekend he had spent working with Jake on the case, especially concerned about the situation now. It was one thing when you knew there was a dealer somewhere in the school. But when he tried to give your friend a date-rape drug it went to a completely different level.

Brooke's memory when she had woken up on Saturday morning had been very hazy. She hadn't remembered seeing Lucas, Nathan or even Miss James the night before. Unfortunately for Nathan and Jake's case she also hadn't remembered who she had been with before she met Lucas. Her memory went as far as arriving at the club where she first met and talked to her friend Mouth. Lucas knew him a little and had told Nathan he was okay; while Nathan wasn't prepared to trust just that, Brooke had mentioned that even though she couldn't recollect whether or not she drank with him, she knew she wouldn't have done so, because Mouth didn't drink. He was on his way out so their conversation was short and he left. After that she had been looking for Bevin and Lucas, and that was as far as she could recall.

Nathan and Lucas had got Brooke to call up Bevin, and she had remembered meeting Brooke there, but not much else. While she hadn't been drugged, she had been "totally hammered", so aside from the fact that she had arrived with Rachel, met Brooke, kissed this "totally yummy guy" whose name she couldn't remember and worn "her totally cute new mini skirt", she couldn't tell them anything. Although it did take her a while to tell them that.

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry I didn't visit more," Nathan apologized. He hadn't been able to think of a cover that didn't sound lame so he didn't offer one, and luckily she didn't ask.

"It's okay," she told him. "Between Lucas here and my housekeeper I hardly had room to breathe."

"There's no such thing as being over-cautious," Lucas said as the three friends walked down the hall.

"Actually, I thought there was," Nathan chipped in. Lucas flashed him an annoyed look, while Brooke laughed.

"Hey, look at this," Brooke stopped in front of a sign on the notice board.

"What's it say?" Nathan asked.

Lucas moved to stand next to Brooke so he could read the notice too. "It's about auditions for the school play."

"I love plays!" Brooke gushed. "In my old school I was in every play since I was twelve."

"You should audition then," Nathan suggested.

"Yeah, I think I will. It'll be fun to get involved in something; especially since this is something Rachel Gattina can't decide who gets in! Hey, you guys should audition too." Seeing the looks on Nathan and Lucas' faces, she added, "Come on, it's our last year at school! Neither of you are involved in any sort of club or sport. Especially you Lucas, you've been at Tree Hill your whole life, don't you have any school spirit?"

"Yeah, Lucas you should audition," Nathan smirked.

"I don't know…"

"Why not?" Brooke whined.

"I get stage fright."

"Have you ever tried to go on stage?"

"Well, no…"

"Then, you don't know, do you?"

"I suppose…"

"Perfect!" Brooke exclaimed, and she whipped out a pen from the side pocket of her bag and quickly wrote down hers and Lucas' names on the list below the notice board. "I can talk to Miss James about the play during our counseling session this afternoon. Nathan, are you sure I can't convince you to take part?"

"I-uh-what did you say about Miss James?"

"She's directing the play," Brooke informed him. "It says so right here," she pointed to the sign. "Are you sure you don't wanna take part? It'll be fun; all three of us can go audition together."

"Uh…I'm not a good actor. Actually, I'm really bad at it. But, I could do backstage," Nathan offered.

"Cool!" Brooke turned around and wrote his name on the other list, pinned up next to the audition list.

"I could do that too," Lucas said.

"No, you can't. I've already put you down to audition. You can't act in the play and be part of the backstage crew."

"Well, then maybe you cut me off from that list and put me on the backstage one."

"Nope, can't do that." Brooke put her pen away, and linked her arm with Lucas' as they resumed walking. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to carry the heavy stuff," she teased.

"I carried you on Friday!" Lucas protested.

Brooke gasped and turned around to face Lucas, hands on her hips. "Lucas Scott! Did you just say I was heavy?"

"No!" Lucas exclaimed, realizing his mistake, but slowly shrinking under her heated glare, while Nathan just chuckled at the scene before him.

"You did! You said I was heavy –"

"No, that's not what I meant –"

"But it is what you said? Is that what you're saying?" Brooke asked.

"No," Lucas whimpered.

Brooke threw her hair back and turned away from him. Her overdramatic actions alerted Nathan to the fact that she was only teasing, but sadly, Lucas was yet to catch on. "Come on, Nathan," Brooke turned to him. "Let's go." She linked arms with him this time and they walked away although Nathan was having trouble standing up straight he was laughing so hard.

"Wait for me!" Lucas yelled, and started to jog after them.

* * *

"You know, you could have told me she was just joking."

"And miss the look on your face?" Nathan chuckled. "Besides you're supposed to be the smart one. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner." It had taken the whole of the walk to Brooke's first lesson for Lucas to realize what was going on. He and Nathan had their first period free so now they were in the library.

"Whatever you say. I gotta get this homework done." Lucas gestured to the books in front of him

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute."

"Where are you going?"

"I told you on Friday after I came back to the hospital that Miss James asked me to tell her how Brooke was."

"Oh, yeah, you don't have to do that. I saw Miss James this morning when we came into school," Lucas explained. "I told her that she was fine and I also mentioned that Brooke didn't remember her being there at all so we decided not to tell her and Miss James agreed."

"Oh. Where was I?"

"It was just after we arrived at school. You were…oh; it was while you were looking for a place to park the car."

"Right." Nathan distractedly tapped his pen on the table, wondering what to do, while Lucas tried to concentrate on his homework. Just then, a boy walked past them. Nathan looked over his shoulder to see that he had come out from some shelves that were behind them. "Hey, I thought we were at the back of the library?"

"Nah. There are a lot of books there, but they're mostly the ones that no one uses. No one really goes back there – well, not to study, anyway. It's another make-out area," Lucas answered Nathan's unasked question.

"Is that all people do in this school?"

"Are you telling me that people weren't 'making babies' at your old school," Lucas picked up on Nathan's earlier phrase.

"Maybe some, but they weren't having sex in every corner of the school!"

Before Lucas could reply a loud gasp came from beside them. Nathan and Lucas turned to the side to see a horror-stricken librarian standing there. "H-Hello Mrs. Hannigan," Lucas mumbled.

She eyed them both suspiciously and then stormed off.

"Great, now I can never come back to the library."

"It wasn't my fault she heard us!" Nathan said.

"It's a library; you're not supposed to talk," Lucas countered.

"Look at that table over there. They're teachers and they're talking."

"Lucas," a feminine voice purred.

Lucas looked up and then back down again. "Hello Rachel."

"Hi," she grinned at him. She moved closer to their table, and from the direction she was walking Nathan could tell that she had come from the same place that boy had.

"Um, this is my cousin –"

"Nathan, right?" She looked at him and flashed him the same smile.

"Yeah. Hi."

"So what are you boys doing?" She leant her elbows down on the table as she asked the question, causing her chest to slightly spill over the edge of her tank top.

"Homework."

"Well," Rachel told Lucas, practically whispering in his ear, "if you ever decide you want to do something more…interesting, you know where to find me."

"What was that?" Nathan asked, as soon as she had left.

"What was what?"

"That! She was all over you, and it didn't seem like the first time. You've never mentioned knowing her all those times Brooke's been bitching about her."

"I don't know her. She's just always tried to hit on me."

"Since when?"

"Sophomore year," Lucas muttered.

"Whoa! That's a long time."

"She just flirts every now and then; I don't really know her though. But now you've met her."

"Actually, I met her before," Nathan corrected, "Sort of. I just didn't know it was her. I don't think she remembers though."

"When did you meet her? Were you arresting her?" Lucas asked, almost hopefully.

"No!" Nathan laughed. "Remember when I opened that closet and there was a couple in there? She was the girl."

"Oh. And that guy," Lucas said, meaning the guy who had come out from behind the shelves before her, "was the guy?"

"No, he wasn't. It was him," Nathan pointed to the boy sitting opposite Rachel at her table.

"Felix? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. It's just that girl," Lucas pointed to the girl sitting next to Felix, "is his girlfriend."

"Oh. Since this week?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"No, since end of junior year I think. We should probably check with Brooke. She'll have better information."

Nathan laughed. "Yeah, she will. But before you ask her remember to tell her that you don't think she's heavy."

"Ha ha. Very funny."


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I made a banner for this story. Here's the link: **http/img177.imageshack.us/img177/8360/14storyalbanner2pp.gif

Tell me what you think of it!

**Chapter Twelve**

That night Haley walked out of her bedroom, having changed after her shower and was greeted with the aroma of just cooked pasta. "That smells nice."

"Thanks," Peyton replied, but as she turned around she couldn't mask the guilty look on her face.

"What is it?"

"What makes you think there's something to be 'it'?"

"Well for one, that look," Haley counted on her fingers, "and, two you made mac and cheese. Clearly you are trying to bribe me. If it helps the prospect of mac and cheese is working so far."

"We're kind of having a guest for dinner."

"Jake?" Haley guessed.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

"When's he coming?"

"Probably less than a minute. I already buzzed him in," Peyton explained. "He called when you were in the shower and he wasn't doing anything so I asked him to come over. I meant to tell you once you got out of the shower."

"Which you just did."

"I guess. Is it okay?"

"I don't mind. Jake's cool and he's your boyfriend now," Haley said with a grin, "but if you want I can go somewhere else."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that."

"I don't want to be a third wheel," Haley admitted.

"But you won't be! It'll be three friends having dinner together." The door bell rang, just as she finished her sentence. "That's Jake. You can't leave now or he'll feel bad."

"Well we can't let Jake feel bad," Haley laughed.

"Please Hales. I'll feel bad too," Peyton pouted.

"All right, I'll stay. But when you too want to make out and I'm sitting right there I'll be saying 'I told you so'."

Peyton giggled. "Okay. I'd rather you than Mrs. Martinson"

* * *

"Nathan, Lucas!" Deb called from the bottom of the staircase. "Dinner's ready."

Obediently, the two boys came out of their rooms and trotted down the stairs, just as the doorbell rang. Deb left the kitchen to answer the door so when Lucas and Nathan arrived only Keith was there.

"Can you set the table please Lucas?" Keith asked. Lucas grudgingly obliged as Nathan took a section of the paper that Keith wasn't looking at. "How's work going, Nate?"

"It's okay so far. We've –"

"Lucas! One of your friends is here," Deb announced as she returned to the kitchen with a petit brunette in tow.

"Brooke!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Hi Lucas. Nathan."

"Hi," Nathan replied.

"Hey. Oh, these are my parents," Lucas pointed out Deb and Keith.

Keith put his paper down and smiled and Brooke smiled back. "I just came to return your book. Thanks for letting me copy the notes."

"That's okay," Lucas replied as he took the book from her. "You could have just given it to me tomorrow."

"But you need it for the homework."

"Oh, right," he remembered. "Thanks."

No one said anything as Nathan, Deb and Keith watched the pair in front of them. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Brooke rung her hands and said, "Well, I'll see you guys at school tomorrow."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Both Lucas and Brooke looked up at Deb who had made the offer. "That is, unless you're doing anything with your parents."

"No, my parents aren't home. But, I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense; I've made enough. It's fine. Isn't it, Lucas?" Deb added.

"Yeah." Lucas nodded eagerly. "You should stay."

"Okay then," Brooke relented with a smile. "I'll just call my housekeeper and tell her."

"The phone's this way," Deb came forward to take Brooke to the next room. Brooke turned to follow her but Lucas was in the way.

"Sorry," they both muttered. Lucas moved to the right to allow her to pass just as Brooke too moved right. "Sorry," Lucas said again and moved left so that Brooke could finally follow Deb out of the kitchen.

Ignoring Nathan and Keith's inquisitive looks, Lucas put his attention back to the dining table as he now had another place to set.

"What was that?" Keith asked.

"Nothing."

"Oh, I disagree. There's definitely something there. And if you don't tell me then I guess I'm gonna have to rely on Nathan for information."

Grinning, Nathan replied, "I'm just as in the dark as you. He won't talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about!" Lucas protested, but the smile on his face as he sat another place at the table said otherwise.

* * *

Jake was surprised at how well dinner had gone. He had been somewhat reluctant to turn up so suddenly and he could tell that at the beginning Haley seemed to look like she would rather have been somewhere else – to tell the truth so had he – but they had ended up having a nice dinner sitting in front of the TV watching Seinfeld reruns. That's probably what he would have done at his apartment had he not come over, but it had been a lot nicer with Peyton snuggled up next to his side.

After their first date, still only a few days ago, Peyton had suggested that they continue to date, but keep it quiet. She had wanted to avoid all the gossip among students that she had seen and heard when other teachers dated, including Haley and Chris, and he didn't mind agreeing. If they weren't publicly dating then it was unlikely Nathan would find out about it, which was how Jake wanted it to stay until he told Nathan about it himself. Nathan was his best friend, so he had decided he was going to tell him before the case was over even though it was technically against the rules, but he wanted his relationship with Peyton to be better established first. If they broke up soon and it turned out to be nothing then he would have argued with Nathan for no reason. Once that was taken care of he had to face the other problem: telling Peyton about his real profession. But he liked to keep that as far back in his mind as possible.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, Jake was about to go back to the kitchen when he heard a voice exclaim, "You're such a druggie!" Jake nearly fell back against the door in shock.

"Not so loud, Pey! Jake will hear you"

So that was definitely Haley. Which meant Peyton had called Haley a…_No way!_ Jake told himself. _They sounded like they were laughing about it – they couldn't possible be serious! They couldn't joke about it if she really was…unless they both were! And they were getting high or – no!_

"Speaking of…Jake?" Peyton called out to him. "How do you want your coffee?"

"Erm, just milk – no sugar!"_ Pull yourself together man!_

"Okay."

Jake composed himself before he slowly walked back to the kitchen, stopping in his tracks when he saw Haley lifting a spoon covered in a powdery white substance to her mouth. She put the spoon in her mouth, but when she saw him a blush spread across her cheeks as if she had just been caught red-handed stealing candy from the grocery store.

Peyton turned around and smiled at Jake. "Your coffee's ready."

"Er-thanks." Jake hastily stepped forward and joined them, and Peyton placed the steaming mug in his hands and then casually draping her arm around his waist. "So, um, what are you girls doing?" he asked, suspiciously eyeing the opened container half-full of the white powder Haley had just consumed, lying on the table for everyone to see.

"Well, I've been making coffee while Haley here has been taking her drugs," Peyton said seriously.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her, Jake. It's just coffee-mate."

Jake nearly spat out the coffee that was in his mouth. "What?"

"You know what coffee-mate is, don't you?" Peyton wondered. "The creamer? I put a spoon in your coffee just now because we're out of milk."

Jake sniffed his coffee and then looked back at Haley who was still holding the spoon. "But you just ate a spoon of it?"

Haley blushed again and Peyton giggled. "You know how some people have weird taste in food?" Peyton began. "Haley likes to eat coffee mate."

"You eat it?"

Haley nodded sheepishly. "It really does taste good. Do you want to try some?" She held the container up and offered him some.

Jake quickly shook his head. "No, thanks."

"She always tries to make me try some too," Peyton told him as Haley put the box away and licked her spoon, "but I never have either."

"You guys don't know what you're missing."

Jake smiled, relief washing over him. But there was just one small thing… He turned to Peyton. "Um, why did you call her druggie?"

"That was Haley's nickname in college. When one of our friends found out that she used to eat it we used to tease her about it and say she was addicted."

"It wasn't funny," Haley wrinkled her nose. "One of our professors walked by when you were calling me druggie and he never looked at me the same after," she whined.

"That's actually true," Peyton confessed between giggles. "It was hilarious!"

"No, it wasn't," Haley pouted. Peyton kept giggling and shook her head as if to say, 'Yes, it was'. "Well," Haley told them, "I'm going to go to my room. See you kids tomorrow."

Taking another sip of his coffee, Jake put his cup down after Haley closed her bedroom door, the remains of a smile lingering on his face. "What?" Peyton asked when she looked up at him.

"Nothing…I just…I heard you two talking when I was coming out of the bathroom…"

"And? Oh my God!" Peyton suddenly realized. "You thought Haley was seriously a drug addict?"

"No," he lied.

"Oh my gosh, you did!" Peyton burst into giggles. "Haley is like the last person who would ever take drugs. I mean…" Peyton couldn't continue as she started laughing again.

"Can we please talk about something else?"

"But I like teasing you."

"But, now that we're alone," Jake punctuated the word by raising his eyebrows, "there's a lot more interesting things we could do."

"Oh, of course." Peyton lifted her mug and held it up to him, feigning innocence. "More coffee?"

As Haley settled down onto her small desk in her bedroom she heard the other bedroom door open and then slam shut. Smiling to herself, she hoped in passing that the walls were soundproof, as they had never been in a position to tell before. Getting back to her work, she looked at the pile of essays she had started marking and then stopped when she went for her shower. She took the last essay she had marked, which had gotten an A, off the top of the alphabetical pile, and started to read the next essay, by Nathan Scott.


	14. Chapter 13

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**Chapter Thirteen**

"Guess what?" Brooke said to Nathan as they left the class their last class of the day. "I just heard that auditions for the play are going to be next Friday."

"That's kind of soon, isn't it? When is the play going to be?" Nathan wondered.

"I'm not sure. They'll probably tell us at the auditions. Bevin thinks that they'll have it at the end of the semester so it'll be at the start of Christmas holidays."

"And you don't?"

"Well, they could have it then, but it depends on what kind of play it is – like if it's going to be really grand or not. At my old school we used to start work on our plays early this semester and then put them on at the end of the year," Brooke explained. "But, then again, our drama teacher always did really elaborate musicals."

"You sing?" Nathan asked.

"God, no. I was always a semi-important female who didn't sing since all the really important ones did. That's kind of why I'm hoping this won't be a musical. It'll be fun to be a lead. If I get it, that is. I'm a little nervous to be honest."

"Still? But you've been in so many plays."

"Yeah, but, like, before whenever I auditioned I knew I couldn't get a main part because I couldn't sing. This time if I don't get lines or something it'll be like they're saying that's because you suck," Brooke clarified.

"What sucks?" Lucas asked coming from behind them.

"Brooke's nervous about the auditions."

"They're on Friday right? I'm sure it'll be fine," Lucas said easily.

"What's got you so calm Mr. 'I get stage fright'?" Brooke wondered.

Lucas shrugged. "How hard can it be?"

Brooke and Nathan shared a look before Nathan turned to Lucas. "So are you ready to go home?"

Lucas nodded. "Do you need a lift?" he asked Brooke.

"No, I'm going home with Bevin."

"So you two are gonna paint your nails? Go shopping?"

"Firstly, Lucas Scott, don't be so sexist. Just because girls are getting together doesn't mean we are going to be shopping or painting our nails."

"Exactly Lucas," Nathan chided. "They might be going to gossip or talk about boys."

Lucas chuckled at that, causing Brooke to punch his stomach lightly. "Hey! Nathan was the one who said it."

Brooke ignored him. "Secondly, I wish that's what we were doing!" She actually sighed at the end, prompting the boys' curiosity.

"What are you going to be doing?"

"Bevin and I need to have a very serious talk."

"You're breaking up with her?"

"Okay, what's with the smart mouth today, Nathan? And, it actually is serious."

"Well what is it?" Lucas asked.

Brooke sighed again and seemed in heavy contemplation as she glanced around them. Since the final bell had gone more than a few minutes ago, the hallway was practically deserted. "Okay, I'm gonna tell you," she said finally, "but only because it's the two of you and you're not going to go around telling a lot of people right?"

Slightly worried now, Lucas and Nathan both nodded.

"Bevin is thinking about taking drugs," she said softly.

"What? Even after what happened to you?" Lucas exclaimed.

Brooke nodded and then added bitterly, "Someone has convinced her that it's the cool thing to do. And that what happened to me was a freak accident and never happens."

"That's not true –" Nathan began.

"I know it isn't, I'm going to explain that to Bevin today. As well as many other things."

"But who's the 'someone'?" Lucas inquired.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "The Evil Snow Queen – Rachel."

"So Rachel does drugs?" Nathan prodded, just as Lucas asked, "Why Snow Queen?"

"Because she's cold. Duh."

"Does Rachel do drugs?" Nathan repeated.

"Well, she - don't you know?" Brooke said to Lucas. When Lucas gave her a 'Know what?' look she carried on, "She's practically an addict. At least she's got a never-ending supply of them, according to Bevin."

"So…is she…" Nathan checked again that no one was anywhere near them before continuing, "Is she, like, a dealer?"

Brooke thought for a moment. "I don't really know. We're not exactly tight, ya know. But, ask Bevin or any of the other cheerleaders – she's almost always got something on her. Anyway, a lot of the cheerleaders get stuff from her and Rachel's convinced Bevin to try so now I'm going to try and un-convince her. Or whatever you call it." Neither Lucas nor Nathan said anything and Brooke observed that both seemed deep in thought. "Well, I have to go meet Bevin…"

"Right," Lucas replied. "See you tomorrow."

"Okay, Bye."

Nathan gave her a small smile, then whipped his cell phone out of his pocket the moment she was gone. "Hey, it's me. Can you meet me out in the playground?"

* * *

Jake walked up and down the playground as he tried to process the information Nathan had just given him. There was next to no one around and as Whitey had assigned him as Nathan's counselor they had a good excuse for talking. "Are you sure it's her? Brooke never explicitly told you she was dealing." 

"She's always got drugs on her and all the cheerleaders – and who knows who else – go to her. How can it not be her?" Nathan argued.

"What about what happened to Brooke last weekend? What reason would Rachel have for giving her that?" Jake wondered.

"Rachel and Brooke hate each other," Nathan said as if that explained everything.

"Brooke was given a date-rape drug. She can't hate her that much. Besides if Brooke hated Rachel why would she be drinking with her? She wouldn't, right? So then it must have been someone else."

"Who got the drug from Rachel," Nathan suggested.

"Or had it themselves."

"So you don't think Rachel is the guy – or girl, rather?"

"I think she could be. But she might not be the only one involved," Jake told him.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"Exactly. And I have an idea."

"What kind of idea?"

"Well, it seems like Rachel having drugs – although on the low – isn't quite Tree Hill High's best kept secret."

"What's your point?"

"Since some people know about it, that'll probably mean that if, say, she was on a date and the guy asked her if he could have some…"

"You want me to date her!" Nathan realized.

"Not date her. Just ask her out once and when she's going to make out with you or something, ask her about it."

Nathan's stomach turned. "She's 17, Jake."

"Don't make out with her!" he said quickly. "Just let her think you're going to. I know that you don't really know each other so you may have to try to hang out with her crowd a little more – and possibly less with Brooke – before she'll go out with you, which will take more time, but I don't really see another way. It's not like I can take her out on a date."

Nathan pondered this and then remembered something. "No. But Lucas can."


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

"You said it was okay when I asked you," Nathan reminded him.

"I know, but that was in the moment and then I was thinking I'll get to do something important to help you guys with the case and prevent what happened to Brooke from occurring again and, besides, I had offered."

"But, now you're thinking…"

"I'm thinking after all these years of managing to stay away from Rachel Gattina I'm throwing myself headfirst into the dungeon," Lucas exclaimed.

"I don't think 2 years can be called 'all these years'," Nathan mused.

"Well, it's certainly a long time. Will the police force give me any compensation for my work?"

"Er…no."

Lucas grumbled and threw the rest of his books in his locker before slamming it shut.

"Does that mean you're not gonna ask her out?" Nathan asked, uncertainly.

Lucas frowned and then replied, "I already did. I saw her this morning after first period and I figured I might as well get it over with."

"What did she say?"

"Yes. And she wants me to meet her in the library in my free period."

"Does she have the same free period?"

"I don't know. But, it's Rachel. Why would she go to class?"

Nathan didn't answer Lucas' question. "But your free period is now," he realized.

Lucas nodded solemnly. "So I am off to my doom."

"Just remember to ask her –"

"About the drugs; I know, I know."

"Okay, and don't forget to seem casual –"

"I know! We went through it all last night, I haven't forgotten already."

"Sorry. But, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she clearly wants to take you to those stacks at the back of the library she was at that day."

Lucas made a face. "No way! No, I'm meeting her in the library, but not there!"

"Just think," Nathan said longingly, "if this thing goes through with Rachel then I won't have to pretend to be 19 anymore."

"Yeah. It'll be kind of weird not having you around though," Lucas admitted.

"You need some more friends, man."

Lucas laughed. The second bell rang and the boys went their separate ways, although Nathan didn't have far to walk since his class was just at the end of the hallway. He was surprised to find when he entered it that the teacher was missing. Most of the students were already there, but the few who came in with him were reluctant to take their seats, seemingly wondering whether or not to leave before the teacher arrived. The decision was made for them when a teacher walked in and they quickly scrambled to their seats. When Nathan looked up from his desk, however, he was surprised to find that instead of his ancient political history teacher the man at the front desk was none other than…Chris Keller?

It was Chris Keller, but for some reason Nathan thought he looked different. His hair was - god, forbid – messy and his overall appearance just seemed flustered and out of place. Nathan privately wondered whether Haley had broken up with him. Considering his luck recently, she probably hadn't.

"Morning, kids. Mr. Hardman is sick today so I've been assigned to cover your class. However, I have much more important things to do so I'm going to give you the work Mr. Hardman set. You should all go to the library and don't do anything that would make Mrs. Hannigan kick you out." Chris then gave some of the sheets in his hand to the person sitting at the front of each row and then left without even making sure that everyone had a copy.

As soon as he was out the door everyone gathered their things but few, if any, headed to the library. Nathan thought about wandering around the school, but then chose the library since Lucas would be meeting Rachel and he wanted to be there if he found out anything important.

After a short walk to the library Nathan kept an eye around him once inside, but unfortunately didn't manage to spot either Lucas or Rachel. He went further into the library, finally reaching the back tables where he had been sitting with Lucas the other day when he had first 'met' Rachel. Today, this section of the library was empty save for one person sitting alone and working…Haley. That was all Nathan needed to choose his table.

He ended up sitting at one that was near hers, but not too close. After another fruitless glance around him for Lucas or Rachel Nathan sat, took his books out and pretended to work. Luckily for Nathan, Haley seemed fairly absorbed in what she was doing so she didn't notice that there was someone nearby staring intently at the side of her face.

A few minutes later, Haley looked up absent-mindedly and met Nathan's gaze. She smiled at him softly before getting back to her work. Nathan was a little unnerved by her reaction and decided it would be better if she didn't catch him looking at her again or she might wonder why he kept staring at her. If only she knew…

He took out a pen and tried to concentrate on the work in front of him, having been called up by his math teacher for not handing in homework and he had not been as nice about it as Haley had. Yet, even though he used math more now that he did lit he still couldn't get his head around some of the sums he was supposed to do. Sighing, he gave up and tried to catch another glimpse of Haley but to his surprise she was no longer sitting there. Nathan slowly realized that she must have finished her work and left while he tried to do the math. Stupid math.

Now that she was gone, and there was no sign of Lucas either, Nathan really had no choice but to try and do his homework. He spent the next three minutes trying to grasp what the question was asking him to do, although it felt like much longer, but was interrupted by the sound of someone calling his name. Turning his head he saw Haley standing next to him. "H-hi," he stammered.

"Hi Nathan. I'm really sorry to interrupt you; is that homework?"

Without a moment's pause he shut the book and shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Well, I was wondering if you minded helping me with something?" she asked.

It was only his surprise that made Haley think he was hesitating. "Sure."

Her face broke out into a smile that reached her eyes and Nathan decided that that was reward enough for whatever she wanted him to do. "Thanks. It's just this way." She pointed in the direction she meant and started walking, so Nathan got up to follow her, suddenly noticing that she was taking him behind the stacks where Rachel and that guy had been making-out.

He wasn't the only one who noticed. Brooke had been sent to the library by her teacher to pick up a book she needed for the class and hadn't been issued. She still wasn't used to the place and had gotten lost, ending up where Nathan was sitting; only Miss James had reached him before Brooke could ask him for help. She hadn't heard what they had said so the sight of Nathan and Miss James going behind the infamous make-out stacks sent her imagination running wild. Everyone knew Miss James was dating Mr. Keller, so it wasn't like anything would be going on. Besides, Nathan was good-looking enough to not have to fool around with a teacher, however young she was. Still, she just had to tease Nathan about this later!

But, back to now, she had to find that book. Brooke left the tables and went through different shelves searching for the author she needed. By pure accident she went down the aisle that was meant to have the books written by author's with surnames starting with the letter 'S' when she had meant to find 'R'. Realising her mistake she went to go to the next shelf but once she turned around she found she couldn't move. Because standing between the shelves directly opposite her was her Royal Highness Rachel Gattina. And she was kissing Lucas Scott.

**A/N: Dun-dun-dun!  The next chapter will continue from here…Thank you SO much for all the reviews. 213! Eek! **


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Brooke stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. She didn't want to look – it was disgusting – but she couldn't help it.

She was spared further torment when a few seconds later Lucas stepped back from Rachel and opened his mouth as if to say something. Before he could he spotted the girl standing opposite them and his mouth opened even wider. "Brooke."

At that, Rachel turned her head and smirked at the look on Brooke's face. What seemed to be shock was slowly turning to anger, and Rachel knew full well that it wasn't all directed at her.

"Brooke," Lucas said again, stepping forward, but Brooke turned on her heel and darted out before he could reach her. He felt Rachel tug on his arm but ignored her and ran out after Brooke.

"Brooke, it's not what you think!" he called out to her retreating figure, a few steps in front of him just outside of the library.

She turned around and flashed an angry gaze at him. "I'm not blind Lucas! I could see you kissing her. Do you like her?" she asked suddenly.

"No."

"Then what were you doing?"

"I-" Lucas took a moment to collect his thoughts and work out how to enlighten to Brooke without actually telling her what was going on.

She didn't wait for his explanation. Without another word, she turned back around and pulled open the door to Lucas' left and walked inside. He quickly went up to the door but inside there was a lesson taking place. She was standing with her back to him, saying something to the teacher, and then she went and sat down in an empty seat, never looking up.

Nathan, however, was completely unaware of what had happened between Lucas and Brooke – or Lucas and Rachel – as he silently followed Haley. The only thought in his mind at that moment was that she was leading him behind the make out stacks! He knew it was highly unlikely that she was taking him here to have her way with him, but, hey, he could dream.

She led him right to the back of part of the shelves before she turned around. She gestured to the top shelf before she asked, "Would you mind getting down some of those books for me?" She smiled apologetically and explained, "I need three of the ones on the top shelf and I can't reach them. I asked the librarian for the ladder they have but apparently it's broken and –"

"I can get them down. Which ones do you need?"

Haley stood on tip-toe to point out the spines of the three books she wanted and Nathan couldn't help but notice they way her shirt rose up slightly, revealing her stomach. Underneath her white shirt was a patch of creamy flesh. Her black trousers were slung low on her hips, and peeking out above the waistband was a small, delicate beauty mark.

"Uh, Nathan?"

He quickly looked up and stammered, "Er…I thought I saw something on the floor."

She looked at him strangely and had to point out the books again as he hadn't been paying attention to her…at least not there anyway.

Nathan reached up and pulled out the three that she wanted. Looking at the cover of the last one he observed that the cover picture was of a stage. "Are these for the play?" he asked.

Haley nodded as he handed them over to her. "Yeah; you heard about it?"

"I signed up for backstage actually."

"Oh, that's great," Haley replied enthusiastically. "Last year a lot of people auditioned but there weren't many volunteers for backstage so we sort of had to rope people into doing it."

"Did you direct the play last year too?"

"No. I helped out, but it was another teacher, Mrs. McNair, who directed it. She's retired now. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about it," she admitted.

They had started walking back, so Nathan had to angle his face to the side to look at her. "Have you ever directed a play before?"

Haley shook her head. "I've acted in a lot of plays, but I've never directed one. That's partly why I need the books. To get the backdrops and sets ready. Last year Mrs. McNair hired a professional to do everything but we don't have that kind of money."

"So is the director in charge of sets and everything?" Nathan wondered, having never been involved in a play before.

"Well, Miss Sawyer is taking care of the sets. She's the art teacher," she added realizing he might not know who she meant. "And a lot of the other teachers are helping, but I needed these books to help us with some props."

"So is Mr. Keller in charge of music?" Nathan asked before he could stop himself, belatedly wondering if that was a bit rude.

"It's not a musical," was Haley's simple reply.

"Oh. Brooke will be happy."

"What?"

"Long story," Nathan laughed. "Brooke was just hoping it wasn't a musical."

"Oh. Well, we've done some musicals before, including when I was here, but this year I thought we'd do something different."

"So, you sing?"

Haley blushed. "A little bit."

"What musicals have you been in? 'My Fair Lady' or 'The Sound of Music'?"

"You like musicals?" Haley was surprised. Nathan didn't strike her as someone who would.

"Not really. But my Mum does, so I've had to sit through a lot of them though. Especially 'The Sound of Music'."

"We did that here when I was a junior," Haley told him.

"Were you Maria?"

"No, I was the Liesel, the eldest daughter."

"Oh," Nathan said as he remembered the character. "So you were 16 –"

"Going on 17," Haley finished. "Yeah. There's actually a funny story there. The teacher who directed it really loved the film so in the scene with that song he wanted us to do the dance the same way it was in the film with the benches and everything. But the guy who played Rolf was a really terrible dancer and he kept dropping me," Haley laughed as she told him. "We kept holding up practice because we didn't get it right."

"He didn't drop you on the actual day did he?"

"No. In the end, they changed the dance so that he never had to pick me up."

Nathan become aware of the fact that they had reached the tables where they were sitting earlier, meaning, sadly, it was time to part ways.

"Thanks for helping me with the books," Haley said as she put them down on her table.

"No problem." After standing there uneasily for a moment, Nathan moved to turn away, but then she stopped him.

"Oh, Nathan. Could you just wait a second?"

"Sure."

She moved about the papers on her desk until she picked up one with his name at the top. "This is your essay."

He took it from her and noted the grade; C-minus. Oh, well. He had expected worse.

"It's definitely an improvement from when you didn't hand in anything, but I really think you could do better. I could tell from your essay that you understood some things, but in parts you sounded a little confused."

"I was," he admitted. That, and the fact that he had done it in a rush so he'd have something to give in.

"I was going to give them back in class anyway, but I just thought I'd show you yours now. If you want to have a look at it and then need me to discuss it with you just ask."

"Um…would that be okay?"

"Sure. If you're having trouble with any of the work then you can always ask me, and we could schedule a time to meet if we're both free."

"Okay. I'm actually free now," Nathan began, "since my teacher is off sick."

"Didn't you get a substitute?" Haley frowned.

"Um, Mr. Keller sent us to the library."

"Oh." It was clear she wasn't going to say anything more, but Nathan could tell from the look on her face that she didn't exactly approve.

"Are you busy now?" he gestured to the books and papers on her desk.

"Actually, no. I had just finished up here and I was going to take these books for the play home. Do you want to discuss your essay now, then?" Haley offered.

_Yes!_ "Uh, sure," Nathan said casually.

"Alright, just bring your stuff over here," Haley told him. He quickly went to grab his bag and books while she made space for him at her table.

Putting his bag on the floor, he sat down on the chair next to hers. He saw another book on the table and turned it over in his hands. "Are we going to be looking at this in class?"

Haley glanced at the book and then shook her head. "No, that's one of mine. I'm just reading it again."

"Again?"

"It's one of my favourite plays," she explained.

"A Streetcar Named Desire," he read the cover, with a question mark in his voice at the strange title.

"No, not that one. Well, I like that one too, but, the book's a collection of three of Tennessee Williams' plays. I'm re-reading The Glass Menagerie."

Flipping to the page, he asked, "Is it good?"

"Oh, it's amazing," Haley gushed. "I love a lot of his work, but The Glass Menagerie is probably my favourite because I acted in a production of it when I was in college."

"What was that like?" Nathan prodded, wanting to keep her talking. It was nice watching her get so animated about a subject that obviously meant a lot to her.

"It was such a great experience. There are only four characters in the play – I was Laura, the daughter – and so we became really close. We had this thing where – you know how in theatre it's bad luck to say good luck? So most people say break a leg, but we had this thing where one of us would say 'break a leg' and then someone else would say 'break both legs' and the other would say 'fall down the stairs'. I guess it's not that funny, you just had to be there. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Haley sobered, "here I am babbling when we're supposed to be doing work."

"I don't mind," Nathan said honestly.

"There's no point me reminiscing; we have to get some work done. Hand that essay over," she said with mock sternness.

Smiling, Nathan did as he was told. She looked over her comments and started to speak, but Nathan found himself concentrating more on her than what she told him about his work. He didn't know it then, but it was something he would do in all the lessons that followed as well, as he tried to learn as much as possible, not about literature, but about his teacher instead.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! A lot of you have been asking for more Naley, so I hope you liked this update. Please leave a comment even if you didn't! I want to know what everyone thinks of this story – good and bad!**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here's a long chapter for you! I was going to post this earlier, but then I was changing channels and Supernatural was on – I've never watched it before but it was just my luck that I found a seriously scary episode! It was really good though. But, you don't want to hear anymore about that, so on with the story. Don't forget to leave comments!**

**Chapter Sixteen**

Jake looked carefully through the front and side windows before he got out of his car. Lucas had said that he didn't know of anyone from Tree Hill High living near his house, but you never knew who might be driving by. After he walked up to the front door of the Scott house, he rang the doorbell and it was answered by a short blonde woman he assumed was Lucas' mother.

"Jake?" she asked with a smile. When he nodded she reached out her hand. "Hi, I'm Deb."

Shaking her hand, he replied, "Hello. Are Lucas and Nathan home?"

"Yes, they're upstairs. They'll either be in Lucas' or Nathan's room," she explained as she stepped back to let him inside. "They're both on the right of the staircase."

"Thank you."

"Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Oh, that's not necessary, Mrs. Scott."

"It's perfectly alright," she reassured him. "You're a friend of Nathan's and you're living all alone in that apartment."

"Well, thank you, Mrs. Scott. That'd be great."

"You're welcome. And its Deb," she told him before she walked away.

Jake walked up the staircase and knocked on the first door on the right. "Nathan?"

His head popped out of the room next door. "Hey."

"Hey." Jake moved to follow Nathan into that room, but Nathan came out and closed it behind himself.

"This is my room," Nathan told him as they went inside the room Jake had originally knocked on.

"Wanna trade? I'll take this; you can have the apartment," Jake said appreciatively.

"What's so great about it? I mean, it's nice," Nathan amended, "but it's nothing spectacular. And you don't have anyone checking up on you."

"You have a PS2 in your room," Jake pointed out.

"You'd sacrifice your freedom for a PS2?" Nathan asked.

Rolling his eyes, Jake sat down on the chair by the desk, deciding to get to the point of his visit. "So where are we with Rachel?"

Nathan sighed. "Back to square one."

"What? You said that Rachel's been hitting on Lucas for years!"

"She has."

"So what happened?"

"Short version?" When Jake nodded, Nathan continued, "Lucas asked her out, she said yes and told him to meet her in the library. He went, and while they were talking she kissed him."

"Okay…"

"Brooke saw them."

"Brooke?"

"Yeah, our friend? The one who likes Lucas –"

"But hates Rachel."

"Right. Anyway, Lucas is brooding in his room. He's not gonna go out with Rachel."

"Right. So square one. Meaning, you're going to have to seduce the cheerleader."

Nathan made a face. "Can you not call it that? And, you clearly haven't met Rachel. Trust me, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be the one doing the seducing."

Jake tried to suppress a grin, but failed. "Sounds like your type."

"Not funny."

"So what's the plan?"

"The plan? I'll talk to her tomorrow at school and see where it goes."

"Do you think you could go out with her by the end of the week?"

"Hopefully. I'd rather get it over with, seeing as -" Nathan started to tell Jake, but was interrupted by a tap on his door. "Come in."

Lucas took a step inside to deliver his message. "I'm going out. Can you tell my Mum I'll try to be back for dinner?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks. See you Jake," he acknowledged before heading out.

"You think he's going to Brooke's?"

Before Nathan could answer Jake's obvious question, they heard a phone ringing. Nathan glanced at his, but it was off.

"It's mine," Jake told him before taking it out of his pocket.

"Who is it?"

"Huh?" Jake glanced up quickly from the display screen of his phone. "Oh it's…my Mum. I'll just go take this…" he gestured outside of Nathan's bedroom.

"Tell her I say hi."

"Sure," Jake said before he went out into the hallway. "Hey."

"Hi!" Peyton smiled into the phone when she heard him speak, and then scolded herself for being so cheesy. "For a minute there I thought you weren't going to pick up," she told him, trying not to sound accusatory. Then she wondered whether she was being clingy. Jake replied before she could get too far into the argument.

"Sorry. I was just in the middle of something. What's up?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner."

"Dinner? Tonight?" Jake gulped.

"Uh, yeah? Why, do you have plans?" Peyton asked.

"Sort of…Um…some old friends are in town," he lied, "and I met them this afternoon and they asked me to stay over for dinner."

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"No, that's okay."

"It's all kind of last minute –"

"It's fine," Peyton cut him off. "Don't worry about it."

"I could come over tomorrow," Jake offered.

"Yeah, okay. Tomorrow's good. I think Haley's going somewhere with Chris tomorrow night anyway, so we'll have the place to ourselves," Peyton pitched the idea more to herself than Jake. She knew should have realized that he might have already made plans.

She managed to sound like she honestly was fine with the arrangement so Jake was relieved. "Great. I'd love to chat, but –"

"Your friends are waiting. It's cool."

"See you at school tomorrow?"

"'Course. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

"I'm coming," Brooke called as she stumbled out of the bathroom and tied her pink bath robe on. This was one of the downsides to living alone most of the time: no one to answer the phone or door when you were in the shower. There was a knock on the door again, causing her to shout, "Give me a minute!" more loudly.

She jogged down the stairs and roughly pulled the door open. Her mood was in no way bettered by the person who was standing on her doorstep. "What do you want?"

"I have to explain," Lucas started.

"There's nothing to explain," Brooke said before he could get out his prepared speech.

"But – what?"

She folded her arms and pouted. "You don't have to explain anything."

"But – but what you saw with me – and with Rachel –"

"It's none of my business." Or, at least, that was the conclusion she had forced herself to come to all the way home.

"Wha-but-you don't mind?"

"Look, Lucas. We're just friends, right? You can make out with whoever you want to make out with. Although, it would have been nice to know how you felt about Rachel all those times I was bitching about her," she said bitterly.

"I don't have feelings for her."

Before Brooke could stop herself the question she wanted the answer to most slipped out, "Then why were you kissing her?"

"She kissed me. I wasn't trying to kiss her -"

"You weren't stopping her either. And what were you doing in a corner of the library with her anyway? I mean, did you two just happen to be there together? I doubt she's ever read a book so that's pretty unlikely."

"Brooke, I –"

"No, Lucas, it doesn't matter. Just date her – go have sex with her for all I care. You don't need my approval, we're only friends –"

"Well, you're definitely a lot madder about this than you would be if we were just friends," Lucas told her. He was getting angry now too, but it was mostly at himself.

"We are just _friends_ Lucas," Brooke dragged the word out for emphasis, fighting the urge to bite her tongue the whole time.

"Are we?"

"Yeah."

"Can I come in then?"

Brooke glanced over her shoulder at the empty house. She had had a lot of fun with Lucas here less than two weeks ago. As infuriated as she had been by his over cautious behaviour, she had also found it sweet. She liked being taken care of by someone other than her housekeeper for once, and she had thought it meant…well, it didn't. That had been established very well this morning. She turned back to him and shook her head sadly. "No."

"Brooke –"

"I'll see you at school Lucas." With that she closed the door on him and returned to the bathroom, deciding to turn that shower into a very long bath.

* * *

The next day at school was uncomfortable, to say the least. Brooke had been trying to avoid Lucas as much as possible, and as a result Nathan had gotten stuck in the middle. He had tried to get Brooke to talk to Lucas more, but it was little difficult to explain things to Brooke without giving away his cover.

At that moment, however, Nathan had to concentrate on something besides Brooke and Lucas. Rachel was at her locker and was, surprisingly, alone. If he wanted to start talking to her, now was the time.

Adjusting the strap on his bag he took a deep breath and walked towards her. She was taking some things out of her locker so her back was towards him. "Uh, Rachel?"

She turned around and smiled when she saw him, but didn't say anything.

"Hi, I'm –"

"Nathan. I know. I never forget a handsome face," she drawled.

_Oh. Well, at least that was a start. Even though it felt pretty gross._ "So, listen…" he adjusted the strap on his bag again uncomfortably, "I know we don't know each other very well, but…I was wondering…if you were interested…" _Was it really that long since he asked a girl out?_ he wondered suddenly. _He definitely needed to brush up before he asked out someone he actually wanted to date. Like Haley, for instance._

"Yes?" Rachel prompted.

"Er, if you maybe wanted to go out sometime?"

Rachel smirked. It was the kind of smirk he knew well. He'd seen it on a number of girls he'd dated just before… It took all Nathan's will power not to visibly shudder as he realized what Rachel was thinking.

"What are you doing on Friday?"

"This Friday?"

"Yeah, this Friday. As in the day after tomorrow."

"I'm not doing anything," Nathan told her.

"Yes, you are." When Nathan raised an eyebrow she added, "You're coming to my house."

"Your house?" Nathan repeated.

Rachel nodded. "My parents will be going out of town so we'll have the place to ourselves."

"Sounds…great," he choked.

She smirked again. "Perfect. Say around seven?"

Nathan nodded dimly.

Rachel shut her locker before leaving with a parting whisper, "See you around."

Trying to focus his mind on how soon he'd be meeting Jake and how best they could make use of the fact that he'd be alone with Rachel for the case – rather than what she was thinking of – Nathan didn't pay much attention to where he was going. As a result, he ran right into Miss James who was coming out of a lesson.

Nathan jerked back in surprise. "I'm so sorry!"

"That's okay," Haley replied quickly, with a quick glance at the ground to check none of her papers had slipped out of her files.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, Nathan." He turned his head back and saw Rachel gliding up to him, holding a piece of paper. "You'll be needing this," she said sweetly and pushed the piece of paper into his hand. Looking at it, he saw that it had her phone number.

"Er, thanks," he said quickly, hoping she would go away.

Rachel winked at him and left, but not without pinching his butt. Nathan's eyes grew wide as he realized what she had done, and then even more so when the increasing redness on Haley's face told him she had noticed too.

"I-Er-I'm not…" Nathan began, having no idea what to say about Rachel.

Haley shook her head and laughed slightly. "It's okay Nathan. You don't have to explain. I'm not going to tell your mum or anything."

"My m-" he stopped himself short when he became conscious of what she thought he was worried about.

"See you in class tomorrow," Haley told him.

They had already had their lesson for today – probably the most awkward Brooke and Lucas incident of the day. English was their only class together so it was the one place where Brooke couldn't avoid him – not that she hadn't tried. "Yeah. Class," Nathan said finally.

Haley had started walking away, but she stopped after hearing Nathan call her name. "Yes?"

"Um, you know that poem you gave us today? If you have any free time later can you discuss it with me?"

"Of course."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Nathan was late. It was Friday and that night he would have to go on his 'date' with Rachel. He and Jake had gone over the plan they had made at the station with some other officers from Tree Hill, but even though he had gotten permission to miss his last lesson from Mr. Durham the meeting had run on longer than expected. He had promised both Lucas and Brooke that he would be there at the auditions, but by now they would have been waiting without him for as long as fifteen minutes. Nathan just hoped that some good came out of it, and they didn't have a huge fight in front of everyone.

After parking the car, Nathan decided to take the back route to the auditorium since that way was shorter. He shut the car door behind him and locked it before jogging across the field. By this time of day Nathan expected everyone who didn't have auditions or a sports practice to have gone home so he was surprised to see a lone figure sitting on the patch of grass just outside the fire exit door. He was even more surprised when he realised the person was Miss James.

Nathan slowed down to a walk as he moved towards his destination so she didn't notice him. As he neared Haley, he took in her appearance. She was dressed in her usual outfit, smart shirt and trousers, but her whole body seemed slouched, like she was exhausted. Her hair was loose so it slightly blurred his view of her face, but the way she kept playing with the cell phone in her hands told him something was troubling her.

There was enough of a distance behind her for him to pass unnoticed if he moved carefully – if she was just having a moment to herself Nathan knew he probably should leave her alone. But, the truth was, he didn't want to leave her alone. There was something compelling about Haley James and he wanted to know her. If he wanted a moment alone with her then he wasn't fool enough to pass this up.

Once he was a few feet away from her he stopped and nervously cleared his throat. "Uh…Miss James?"

She looked up at him; the second Nathan saw the tears on her cheeks he wondered whether he should have just gone. "Nathan." She looked back down at her lap and with the back of her hand tried to brush them off her face. "C-Can I help you with something?"

Now somewhat uncomfortable, Nathan glanced at the auditorium doors not far away. He had no experience with crying women – he had never been the type of person you came to seek comfort from. It wasn't that he was insensitive; he just wasn't good at knowing what to say in that kind of situation. But he wanted to comfort Haley, even though he didn't know why or how. Nathan closed the distance between them by sitting down next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked, then inwardly cringed. She obviously wasn't and the question sounded so inadequate.

"I'm fine," Haley lied, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"Did something happen? Are you worried about the play or something?"

"No." Haley shook her head. "It's nothing like that. I just…"

"Just what," Nathan prodded gently.

"I…I got this call about my mom," Haley breathed.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's fine," Haley said brokenly. "She just…she was in an accident. The doctor said she should be fine – I was just – I just got so scared," Haley told him. Tears brimmed at her eyes and Haley let out a deep sigh. "I'm overreacting; I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Nathan."

"Don't worry about it." Without thinking, he draped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

Closing her eyes, Haley relaxed the side of her body onto him. Her head lay against his collarbone while her hand was on his chest. Nathan just hoped that she couldn't hear how his heartbeat had increased.

They remained like that for a few moments, sitting there peacefully, as if they were the only two people in the world. Then, suddenly, Haley's whole body jerked away from him and she sat up straight.

"Miss James…"

"Er…I'm sorry about that," Haley said quickly, and tried to brush it off, both in front of him and in her mind as well. She gave out what she hoped sounded like a light-hearted laugh. "I must be a mess! I should go get cleaned up so they can start auditions."

"You don't need to."

"Huh?"

Hesitantly, Nathan's hand reached forward and pushed the hair on her face out of the way. Then, with his thumb, he brushed away the single tear that remained underneath her eye. "There," he whispered.

Haley stared at him for a few moments. "Th-Thank you."

Stunned by his own actions as well, Nathan replied, "You're welcome," for lack of anything else to say.

"I-I should – I have auditions."

Nathan nodded. Haley stood up and ran inside through the fire escape door.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Lucas was demanding minutes later when Nathan came into the dressing room where the students were supposed to assemble. He and Brooke were both standing side by side, which Nathan took as a good sign.

"Sorry, I got held up," Nathan told them.

"Busy with Miss James?" Brooke commented, attracting both Lucas and Nathan's attention.

"W-what?" Nathan stuttered.

"Well, auditions were supposed to have started already and she's late too so –"

"Oh, you know about the ice cream incident," Lucas realized.

"What ice cream incident?"

"The ice cream - at the supermarket – I thought that was why you said that," Lucas told her.

"I don't know anything about the supermarket; I know about the library," Brooke informed Lucas.

"The library? What was he doing with Miss James there?" Lucas wondered.

"Can you two keep your voices down please," Nathan requested. The last thing he wanted was for other students to hear them.

Ignoring him, Brooke continued talking to Lucas. "You tell me what happened at the supermarket first."

"The day before term started my mom sent us to the supermarket and we split up while we were there. Nathan went to get the ice cream and Miss James was at the freezer and since he didn't know who she was then he started flirting with her."

"Nathan flirted with Miss James!" Brooke squealed.

"No! I didn't! We said barely two words to each other, there was no flirting –"

"What happened at the library?" Lucas asked.

"I saw them going behind the make out stacks. And you know what everyone does there," Brooke said with a wink.

Lucas' eyebrows rose. "Nathan!"

"She needed me to get some books down for her!"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "No one goes back there for books. That's why people make out there."

"Maybe teachers use those books, Brooke," Nathan said.

"What teachers?"

"Lit teachers!"

"Maybe," she accepted. "But my version of the story is much more exciting."

"I agree," Lucas pitched in.

Nathan was saved from further mortification by the entrance of Miss Sawyer into the dressing room. "Hi everyone. Sorry about the delay; auditions will start now. We'll be going in the order of when people signed up; the list is on the wall over there," she pointed it out to them. "You don't have to wait in this room the whole time, but please make sure you're here and ready while the person before you is auditioning. Once you've auditioned you can leave. The cast list will be up on Monday. Good luck," she added.

A tall dark-haired girl with glasses started up. "Don't say that!"

"Er, right. Sorry. Break a leg," she shrugged and went back.

Brooke rolled her eyes at the girl who had spoken. "Ok-ay."

"I wonder when our turn is," Lucas stated.

"We're fourth," Brooke said. "Well I'm fourth, which means you're fifth. I remember from when I signed us up."

"Oh…that's really soon…" Lucas frowned.

"I think it's actually better going sooner rather than at the end because by that time your nerves will really build up. Anyway, I'm going to go freshen up now so I'll be ready by the time I have to go onstage. And, Lucas?"

"Yes?"

"You should probably keep an eye on Nathan. Who knows what he'll try to get up to next," she teased.

Lucas laughed in agreement, while Nathan just made a face. "Come on, man, we're only joking," Lucas told him when he noticed.

"We'll it's not very funny. And people could hear you and think something was actually going on."

Lucas laughed. "Okay, okay. But, hey, that was the first conversation Brooke and I have had since – well, you know – where we were just talking normally to each other without being really awkward. I think things might be looking up."

"I'm very happy for you," Nathan said, only half sarcastically. He _was_ happy that Lucas and Brooke were talking again – he just didn't want it at his expense.

The minutes flew by and soon it was Brooke's turn. There was a curtain separating the side of the stage from the dressing room so Lucas and Nathan couldn't see her audition, but when she came out she seemed pleased.

"It's your turn then, now Lu-Lucas, are you okay?" Brooke said when she looked at him.

He was staring wide-eyed at the curtain before him, starting to sweat slightly and Nathan could have sworn that his palms were shaking.

"You're up man."

Lucas nodded briefly and stepped forward, opened the curtain then suddenly turned around and came back again.

"Lucas, what are you doing?"

"Did you see how big that auditorium is?" he said.

"Luke, you've been in the auditorium before," Nathan reminded him.

"Sitting in the audience. Not standing on that – that…"

"Stage?" Brooke offered.

"Yeah. It's huge!"

Knowing a case of stage fright when she saw one, Brooke set about to rectify the problem. "It's okay, Lucas. Just breathe," she told him calmly and put her hands on his shoulders. "Stop worrying. There are only three teachers in that audience, that's it."

"But on the day of the play, it'll be packed!"

"Lucas Scott!" a voice called out from the audience.

Brooke turned to Nathan. "Can you just tell them he'll be a minute?"

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"Er-okay." He opened the curtain and stepped onto the stage. As he observed the auditorium, he realized Lucas was right: it really was huge. Thank God he wasn't auditioning! He looked at the seats and saw Miss James sitting in the front row, and two teachers were sitting in the row behind her. Her eyes opened wide when she saw Nathan. "No, I'm not auditioning," he said when he realized what she was wondering. "Lucas is here he's just…having some problems. He'll be out in a minute."

"Okay," Haley replied meekly, embarrassed as she remembered what had taken place between them just outside.

As Nathan walked off stage he noticed with a start that the two teachers sitting behind Haley were Miss Sawyer and Jake. He was surprised since Jake had never mentioned that he would be at auditions. Nathan noted that he hadn't told Jake he would be here either, but he had informed him that he was doing backstage a while ago, whereas Jake hadn't even said he was involved. However, Jake didn't notice Nathan, as he was fully engrossed in his conversation with Miss Sawyer. It occurred to Nathan that Jake might not have mentioned it because he might not even be involved in the play.

With a final glance at them, Nathan walked off the stage and back to Brooke and Lucas. Brooke seemed to have finally calmed him down as she was telling him, "You're gonna be great."

Lucas nodded and returned her smile. He turned around and was about to go on, before he half-turned back again. "But what about –" he started to say before Nathan pushed him forwards so that he stumbled onto the stage and had no choice but to start his audition.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"What's the time?"

"It's six forty-eight, Tim," Jake informed his colleague. "One minute later than the last time you asked." He, Nathan and Tim were sitting in a van along with two other officers from Tree Hill, Fergie and Junk, down the road from Rachel's house. Nathan was wired, so that Jake and the other officers would be able to hear what he found out – plus whatever else took place – and if he was able to get any evidence that tied her to possession at the very least, then the three policemen from Tree Hill would enter, while Jake stayed out of sight.

"Time goes by really slowly doesn't it," Tim commented causing the others to groan.

Jake liked Fergie and Junk, but Tim was really starting to get on his nerves. Nathan, however, seemed to enjoy humouring him. "Yes, it does, Tim," Nathan said with a grin.

"Why can't you just go in yet?" he whined.

"Because the date starts at 7," Fergie reminded him.

"Then why are we here so early?"

"So that we could make sure we were prepared," Jake said exasperatedly.

"But since we know that we're prepared why doesn't Nathan just go now?"

"Because girls always get ready fashionably late so he would be sitting around doing nothing for ages," Junk stated, hoping it would keep Tim satisfied.

After this everyone retreated to their own worlds, each thinking about the night ahead or the day gone by – or both, in Nathan's case – and seemed content to remain silent. Except, Tim, of course.

He leant over towards Nathan who was sitting closet to him. "So, dude, is this chick hot?"

"Tim, she's seventeen."

"That doesn't mean she isn't hot. In fact, that means she probably is hot – or starting to be at least. Seventeen is like, when they've…you know." He made a gesture in front of his chest with his hands that had Junk giggling and Jake hanging his head in his hands.

As Jake prayed for the person who was Tim's partner he felt a strange sensation in his left trouser pocket. It didn't take long for him to realize that his cell phone was vibrating.

He pulled it out and, on having read the caller ID, felt guilty. He couldn't go outside of the van and he wasn't going to talk to her in front of the others so he wasn't able to answer it. But what would he say when she asked him about it? He had told Peyton he would be staying home and marking essays – _was that a good enough excuse to not answer your phone as well? I could say I was in the shower when it rang – but then why didn't I call her back? Hmmm…maybe I was recharging the batteries and I put the phone off…but would a caller be able to hear the phone ring if it's off?_

"I don't know."

"Huh?" Jake looked up.

"I said 'I don't know'," Nathan told him.

"Don't know what?"

Fergie gave him a strange look. "If someone calling would hear the phone ring if it was off. You just asked us."

Jake was surprised by this, not having realized he had spoken the latter of his thoughts out loud. "Oh. Okay."

"I know! Let's play a game while we wait."

"Tim!"

* * *

Frowning, Peyton placed the phone in her hands back on the receiver.

"Jake's not picking up?" Haley guessed.

Peyton shook her head. "He's probably busy or something," she said as she sat down on the island across from Haley.

Haley nodded. "Are you sure you don't want any more fried rice?" Haley held up the container to her friend.

"No, thanks," Peyton answered, laughing. "You go ahead and finish it. I'm gonna start cleaning up." She took her plate and cup to the sink and started to wash them. Then, she turned her head to the side to ask her friend, "So how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Haley replied, between mouthfuls.

"Are you sure? I mean, with your mom and everything?"

"She called me about an hour ago and she's completely fine. Normally I wouldn't believe her, but my Dad said that the doctor will be discharging her tomorrow."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

After putting her plate and cup to dry Peyton went back to the island and sat down next to her friend, who was stuffing herself with more food. Peyton had known Haley long enough to be able to tell when she ate a lot for the joy of food or to avoid a problem. While it was often because of the former, this time clearly wasn't one of those times. "Haley, are you sure you're okay?"

Haley put her spoon down and took a moment to swallow her large mouthful. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"Okay. Do you want me to call Chris?" Peyton offered.

Haley gave her a look. "You hate Chris."

Peyton sighed, but didn't attempt to deny it. "He's your boyfriend. If you want him to come over so you can talk to him about your mom or anything, I'll call him for you."

Haley gave her a slight smile. "Thanks. But it's okay. I already called him, actually."

"What did he say?"

"He didn't pick up so I left a message."

"Well, we're a sad story. It's a Friday night and both our boyfriends aren't picking up," Peyton joked.

"I'm sure Jake has a good reason," Haley said, lightly.

Peyton looked at her strangely. Finally, she interrupted the silence. "A-And Chris doesn't?"

"Oh. Well, yeah, of course," Haley said quickly.

But as the night wore on Haley was finding it harder and harder to simply brush off what she had said – or, rather, what she hadn't said. It had happened so slowly that she hadn't realized, but over the past few months she and Chris had just been drifting apart. Even before he had gone on his summer trip without her, there had been a kind of aloofness between them. Haley had had boyfriends in college who didn't really mind where she went with her friends and what she did without them, but none who hadn't _cared_. But, it seemed just as much as Chris didn't care what she did without him; she had stopped caring about him.

Once the thoughts entered her mind Haley found it difficult to drive them away. When she finally retired to her room for the night Haley thought it would be a relief because she would be able to sleep and just forget everything, even if only for a little while, before she had to face them in the morning.

Her phone was charging, but she had left it on and she found the light flashing when she entered her room. Picking it up, Haley saw she had a new voicemail.

"_Hey, babe. Got your message. Sorry about your mom – but at least there was no damage done, right, since she's gonna be okay? Anyway, I'm real busy – this whole weekend, actually – but I might call you tomorrow or Sunday. Otherwise Chris Keller will see you in school on Monday. Bye!"_

Haley could tell by the sound of his voice that he was winking as he signed off. _Winking! Who did that? 'Chris Keller', obviously,_ her brain reminded her. _Chris Keller._ _Urgh, he even called himself that. And he called me 'babe'! What does he think I am –_ _a baby pig? And he _might_ call tomorrow. Like I'm blessed that the amazing 'Chris Keller' _might_ take time out of his busy schedule of songwriting and partying to call me. My mother just had an accident! What kind of boyfriend is he!_

Thoughts of that afternoon came flooding back to her. In the moment, she'd been too weak and upset to contemplate it, but Nathan's actions had surprised her – as had her reply. But, he had been a lot more…_friendly_ than Chris. With a final glance around the room, Haley picked up her coat and left.

* * *

Nathan looked back over his shoulder at the van one last time before he rung the bell. No one answered at first, which prompted Tim to wonder if they had the wrong house loudly enough for the microphone to pick it up and Nathan to hear it in his earpiece. Jake shushed him just in time before Rachel opened the door.

"Hey! You found it."

Nathan nodded. "Uh, yeah, I did."

He heard Fergie comment, "Smooth," and Tim requested, "Dude, can you move a bit? I wanna see the chick."

"Can I come inside?" Nathan asked quickly.

"Sure," Rachel smirked as she stepped back to give him room. "We can't exactly do what I have planned out here."

Nathan knew that the muffled sounds coming out of his earpiece were Jake and the others trying to keep down their laughter. He gave Rachel a tight smile as he entered the house. It was going to be a long night.


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews! I know I usually update more often than this, but I've been having exams so I don't have much spare time. They'll be finished in 2 weeks though, and then updates will be back to normal. **

**Chapter Nineteen**

"So I thought we could watch a movie…is that okay?" Rachel asked Nathan once he was inside.

Looking over at the TV screen in the living room not far from the entrance, Nathan nodded. "Sure." He started moving that way when Rachel stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

He gestured to what was most likely the largest television he had ever seen. "There."

Rachel smirked. "I have a TV in my room."

Nathan's eyebrows went up as he heard one of the boys snort into microphone. "Well, we can watch it here. I mean, your TV probably isn't as big as this one and uh–"

Rachel laughed and shook her head. "You Scott boys are so shy!" She took a few steps toward him and pulled him by the arm to the staircase.

"Shy? Yeah, right," Jake whispered into the microphone so only Nathan could hear.

"Shut up," Nathan muttered.

"What?" Rachel turned around.

"What?" Nathan countered.

"You said something."

"No, I didn't."

Rachel's eyebrows came together in confusion. "I'm sure you said something."

Nathan shrugged.

Rachel brushed it off and took his arm again and led him upstairs. She all but dragged him inside her room, the one closest to the staircase. Observing its enormous size and the television that was only marginally smaller than the one downstairs, Nathan realized what life could have been like for him had he had a rich family. That, and had he been a girl, he added to himself on noticing the frilly pink curtains.

"So just make yourself comfortable," Rachel told him and plopped down on the far side of the bed. She picked up the remote on the side table and switched the television on.

Nathan was standing next to a desk, so he pulled the chair out and sat down on that.

Rachel giggled. "I said be comfortable. Come sit here next to me," she patted down the side of the bed closer to him.

"I wish that was me," Tim commented, loud enough for the mike to pick it up.

"Don't be stupid, Tim," Fergie said. "No girl would ever say that to you."

Fighting back the urge to laugh, Nathan stood up and went up to the bed. He sat down on the side and kicked off his trainers, before lying down, far enough away from Rachel so that he was comfortable, but close enough so that she wouldn't think he was weirder than she already did. As much as he would have liked to remain sitting in that chair, her thinking he was avoiding her after he was the one who asked her out, wouldn't really help the case.

The movie began to play and Nathan started to go over in his head the best way to get Rachel talking about the drugs. As he wasn't paying attention, Rachel found it very easy to do what can only be described as pounce on him. Nathan was so taken aback that he physically moved away from her impulsively, forgetting that he was already quite close to the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Rachel exclaimed, her head popping out over the side of the bed to look down on Nathan, who was now lying on his back on the ground.

Closing his eyes, Nathan grumbled and managed a nod. He wasn't sure what hurt worse. His head from the fall or his ear from the loud laughter coming through the earpiece now that the guys had realized what happened.

"Do you need any help?" she offered.

"No, I'm fine," Nathan reassured her, and proved it by sitting up on the floor by himself.

"Are you sure you don't – what's that?" she asked suddenly.

"What's what?"

"There's something in your ear!" she squealed.

Nathan put a hand up to his ear and realized that the laughter hadn't been dying down – the fall had just loosened the tiny ear piece and it was coming out of his ear. He adjusted it hurriedly and racked his brain.

"What is it?"

"It's a hearing aid," he blurted out.

"A hearing aid? Oh my god! So, you're, like, deaf?" she wondered.

"Uh…hearing impaired."

"Oh my gosh." As she rested her chin on the palm of her hand, propped up on her elbow, Nathan saw she actually was interested. "Why don't you have one in your other ear?"

"It's only my left ear," he explained.

"So what's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being deaf? Not being able to hear everything properly?"

"Well, I…with the hearing aid I can pretty much hear everything."

"Oh, right, of course." Rachel scooted back over to her side to make room for Nathan. "Shall we get back to the movie then?"

* * *

Haley was almost at Chris' apartment. His block was close to where she lived, but slightly further from school, which was his excuse for getting late nearly everyday, much to Whitey's amusement. Not.

She had borrowed Peyton's car, which she'd had with her since before college. The old thing was coming apart, but whenever Haley suggested Peyton get a new one she always replied, "Not until he breaks down on me. Right now, he still gets the job done." Which was kind of true. Haley wasn't the best of drivers, but Peyton's trusty old car, named Pete by some of their friends for reasons Haley still wasn't quite sure about, was still holding up.

She parked in front of the block of flats, narrowly missing hitting the mailbox in the process, and jumped out of the car. Haley didn't know what she was going to say to Chris, but she felt like she had to face this problem now or otherwise she never would, and they'd go back to the way they had been for months: together, but not really. It had come to the point where she didn't like to go out with Chris if his crazy friends weren't coming along so she could have a laugh, or she longed for Peyton to suggest something the two of them could do together so she wouldn't have to go out with him.

He had given her a key so entering the flats was no problem. She jogged up the stairs and soon arrived at the second floor. Once she reached Chris' apartment she took a deep breath, and then knocked.

Two minutes later the door was opened by a surprisingly familiar face. "What are _you_ doing here?" It was only after the words had left her mouth that the answer came to her.

* * *

"You know, you really need to relax," Rachel commented to Nathan as he got back on the bed.

_And there's the opening_, he thought immediately. "Uh, yeah…you know, lately I've actually been having a lot of trouble just relaxing…"

"Why, what have you been doing?" Rachel flashed him a knowing grin.

It took all Jake had not to snicker.

"Nothing much…I just can't seem to relax. I was wondering if maybe you could help me with that…"

Rachel quirked an eyebrow. "I guess I could give you a massage."

"No! No, that's okay…I was actually wondering if maybe…you had any…weed?"

"No," she told him.

_No? _

"I don't have any more of that," Rachel continued. "However, I have something else…" Rachel got up and knelt on the floor before pulling a box out from underneath the bed.

Nathan leaned over so that he could see for himself and to coax her into talking about what she was in her hands. She needed to say it outright before Junk, Fergie and Tim could come in. Although, the fact that she had implied she used to have weed meant they had some sort of evidence no matter what she had in her hands. Thoughts of what he could do now that it was very likely the case was over started to come to him. Well, for one thing, he'd definitely be going on better dates than this. _Holy crap!_ Nathan thought suddenly when he saw what was in the box she was holding. _There was enough to last her for weeks in there!_


	21. Chapter 20 Part A

**A/N: So many of you wanted faster updates but my exams don't finish until next week so I decided to split this into 2 because it turned out to be longer than expected. The first part answers your questions from the last chapter so you don't have to worry about those cliffhangers! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I would like to especially dedicate this update to everyone who thought Rachel's box had condoms in it! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Part A**

Nathan was at his locker on Monday morning when he heard someone come up behind him. He turned around and smiled at Brooke. "Hey."

"Good morning," she sing-songed with a wide grin on her face.

After closing his locker, he asked, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Oh, well, that could be the fact that I have very good news. Lots of it, actually."

"Really?" As they started walking down the hall, Brooke linked her arm with Nathan's. "This news wouldn't have anything to do with a certain cheerleader, would it?"

She looked up at him and gasped. "You know! But I wanted to break the news," she pouted.

"All right," Nathan chuckled, "Then tell me what you know."

"Only if you tell me what you know," she propositioned.

Nathan smiled. "Deal."

"Okay, so, Rachel Gattina got busted for possession of drugs this weekend! Now she's in juvie! How awesome is that?"

"Awesome? Brooke…"

"Well, she's where she belongs…Anyway the cops busted her in the middle of a date! I wonder what happened to the poor boy…"

Nathan grinned, but said nothing.

"Now tell me what you know."

Rachel had been carrying a small variety of minor – but still illegal – substances. He pretended he didn't know what some of them were so that she would name them and the mike would pick it up. After Rachel had said what they needed to hear Fergie, Junk and Mouth knocked on the door of the Gattina household. Pretending not to know Nathan, they searched the house and, after they found her stash, took her down to the police station. She had tearfully confessed to possession immediately, but claimed she wasn't a dealer.

Which was why Nathan was still pretending to be a student, much to his irritation. He and Jake had spent all weekend on the case, but, try as they might, Rachel's story held up and they couldn't tie her to any of the cases that had originally led them to Tree Hill High. Rachel Gattina took drugs and passed some extras around to her friends, but that appeared to be the extent of her dealing. Her lawyers were in the process of making a deal with the judge to reduce her time in juvie in exchange for information on her supplier, which she was ready and willing to give.

Not that Nathan could tell Brooke any of that. "Pretty much the same as you," he said finally. "Except I heard her date was good-looking."

"Really?" Brooke seemed mildly interested, but then shrugged it off. "Still, something must be wrong with him if he went out with her. I didn't expect you to have more information than me anyway."

Nathan smiled, then remembered something. "Hey, you said you had lots of good news."

Brooke nodded. "I do - well, maybe - but I want to find Lucas before I tell you. Where is he?"

"I'm not sure what subject he just had, but I know his next lesson is just down this hallway," Nathan pointed to their left.

"Then, let's go!"

Brooke led Nathan down the hallway and they arrived at Lucas' class just before he went inside.

"Hey. I didn't think you guys had class around here."

"We don't," Nathan informed him. "Brooke has news."

She looked at both boys and grinned. "You remember how they said the cast list would be up today?"

"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot," Lucas admitted.

"Well, I thought they would post it after school but Bevin said it was already up this morning on the notice board outside the gym so I thought we could go look together?"

"You haven't seen it yet?" Lucas wondered.

"Yeah, from the way you were talking I thought you already knew," Nathan added.

Brooke shook her head. "No, I don't know. But, come on, the gym isn't far – let's go see."

Soon, they were in sight of the board. Nathan was the first to notice that Brooke had stopped walking.

"What's the matter?"

"I can't look."

Lucas turned to her. "What?"

"Can you look for me?" she asked sweetly. "Just to see if my name is even there on the list?"

"Brooke, I'm sure your name is somewhere on the list," Nathan reassured her.

"Somewhere on the list?"

"At the top of the list," Lucas jumped in, "is what he meant. Look, why don't we both go see where our names are on the list together, okay?"

Brooke nodded. "Okay."

Brooke and Lucas went towards the notice board, with Nathan trailing behind them. As Nathan searched for his friends' names on the list, he was startled when Brooke emitted a shriek.

"I'm the lead! Look!" Brooke excitedly pointed it out to her two friends, and didn't see the glare she was getting from a girl next to her, who was part of the chorus.

"That's great, Brooke."

"And, look, Lucas, you're in the main cast too. You were worried over nothing!"

"Congratulations, man."

"Thanks, Nate." He just had time to nod at his cousin, before Brooke encased him in a bear hug. Delighted by the resumption of Brooke's openness with him, Lucas grinned and hugged her back.

"This is so exciting!" she squealed, after she released Lucas from her embrace. "We'll be working together on the play – Nathan too, when the backstage crew joins us."

"I'm still a little nervous, though," Lucas admitted, as the three friends started walking down the hall.

"Oh, don't worry. You got a really good part despite your nerves, so if we just work on it you should be fine by opening night. If you want you can come over to my house and we can work on our lines together," Brooke suggested.

"Thanks," Lucas said, thrilled by the offer, and even more so when he casually put his arm on her and she didn't do anything to move away.

Unfortunately for him, the second bell rang, which meant all three of them had to go their separate ways – and fast – if they didn't want to get scolded by their respective teachers.

"See you guys at lunch?"

Lucas and Nathan both nodded, knowing it was the period after their next lesson.

When they did see her at lunch, both boys noted the strange look on her face.

"Is everything okay?" Lucas asked.

"Today is the weirdest day!" Brooke exclaimed, sitting down next to Lucas, opposite Nathan and taking out the sandwiches her housekeeper had made for her from her bag.

"More news?" Nathan guessed.

Brooke nodded emphatically. "First, I'm going to be on the cheerleading squad!"

Lucas looked at her from the side and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Now that Rachel's in juvie, Bevin's been made captain and she's having tryouts this afternoon."

"So then you're not on the squad yet," Nathan told her. "I mean, there's only one spot and other people will try out too."

"That's what I told Bevin, but she said there's no limit to the number of people who can be on it, if the people are good. So it looks like ice princess just told me that because she didn't want me on the squad! But, she's in lock-up now, so there's nothing she can do about it, ha!" Brooke took a break from speaking to have a large bite of her sandwich.

"Well, I'm glad you can be on the squad like you wanted."

"Thanks, Lucas."

"But, why did you say today's weird?" Nathan wondered.

"That's because of the other news I heard."

"More gossip?"

"Yep – about teachers."

"Teachers? What teachers?" Nathan questioned.

"Miss James and Mr. Keller broke up."

Nathan took a long sip out of his drink so he wouldn't have to show any sort of facial expression. "Where did you hear that?" he asked when he had finished.

"From Bevin – she'd heard it from Amy, who'd got it from Theresa. And you know who Theresa is," Brooke said to Lucas. When the name didn't register with him, she added, "Who her sister is?"

"Oh, Theresa as in Sarah's sister? Yeah, I know who you mean."

"Who?" Nathan asked them, completely lost.

"You know how there's the main lunch ladies in the cafeteria and then there's one who's a lot younger – almost our age?"

Nathan cast his mind back to standing in the lunch line just a few minutes ago and recalled the slim blond who stood out among her colleagues since they were all at least forty years older than her. "Yeah, I remember. What about her?"

"That's Sarah. She used to go to school here. She graduated last year – well, this year, but last school year - but now she works here as part of the catering. I don't know why – I didn't really know her to ask, but I knew of her. Her younger sister Theresa is in our year – she's in our biology class," Lucas told Nathan, hoping to jog his memory.

"But what does Theresa have to do with Miss James and Mr. Keller breaking up?" Nathan demanded.

"She doesn't," Brooke shook her head, "but Sarah does."

"Sarah?"

"Mr. Keller was cheating on Miss James!"

"What?" Lucas exclaimed, drowning out the sound of Nathan choking on his soda.

"Sarah was sleeping with him while they were going out, but they broke up this weekend and so she and Mr. Keller got together for real, so she told Theresa about the whole relationship – including the cheating – which turned out to be a stupid move since Theresa couldn't keep her mouth shut and now it's all over school!" Brooke finished in one breath.

"Whoa…that sucks for Miss James," Lucas said, noticing Nathan was still silent.

"I know! I don't care that everyone is talking about Mr. Keller and Sarah – I don't know either of them – but I feel really bad for Miss James. I mean, it's bad enough that your boyfriend cheated on you; you don't want the whole world talking about it! And I don't know what's wrong with Mr. Keller. Miss James is so cool – and pretty! Sarah is just…fat. And, you know, she's not even a real blond!" Brooke said disapprovingly. "I wonder if she came to school," she added suddenly.

"We saw Sarah in the cafeteria," Lucas told her.

"No, not her. I mean, Miss James. Come to think of it I never saw her in school today…"

"She must be in school," Nathan spoke up finally, "since the cast list is up."

"Oh yeah. I forgot that," Brooke admitted. "Well, Rachel will be upset that she wasn't headline news in school for once. Hey, what's your next lesson?" she asked Lucas.

Lucas thought for a moment before Nathan reminded him it was, "Lit. We all have lit next."


	22. Chapter 20 Part B

**A/N: This takes place at the same time the first part of the chapter ended, i.e. while everyone was at lunch break.**

**Chapter 20 Part B**

"Can I kiss you?"

"Jake!" Peyton exclaimed, and pushed him slightly away so that he was sitting properly in his chair and not leaning over her.

Jake, however, was undeterred. "I want to kiss you," he whispered in her ear and pouted when she looked at him, knowing she couldn't resist.

"Other teachers are here!" she told him in a hushed voice, glancing around the faculty lounge, grateful that there was no one sitting at a table nearby. "I thought we agreed to keep this secret!"

"No one's looking," he whispered, now so close that she could feel his breath on the side of her neck.

The bell sounded to signal the end of lunch and most of the other teachers started to grudgingly assemble their things. Peyton noticed the spark in Jake's eye and remembered that neither of them had a lesson now. She looked away from him and down at the table, concentrating on the book in front of her. It didn't escape her that the main door kept opening and closing, and that all the feet were going out rather than coming in.

A few minutes later the door closed again, and the entire room was quiet. Peyton knew that everyone had left before Jake leaned close again, to tell her.

"That doesn't mean that we have to!" she protested, not really sure why, seeing as how she wanted to kiss him too. But they were in school! She didn't think she'd be able to tell students off for engaging in any activities on school grounds if she got carried away herself.

"But it does mean we can…" Jake reached out and captured her chin between his forefinger and thumb and turned her to look at him. Before she could tell him what she had just thought, he silenced her by placing his lips on hers. And she didn't dislike it enough to argue with that; far from it, actually.

Peyton sighed against his mouth, causing Jake to pull her closer; first by pulling her chair so it was right next to his, and then by wrapping his arms around her body so she was against his chest. Peyton responded by putting one of her hands in his hair and kissing him again. And again. And again.

She would have continued to do so if the door to the lounge had not opened.

"We were just –" Peyton began, not entirely sure how she was going to justify her actions, but she stopped and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.

Haley grinned. "Sorry to interrupt your little love fest here; I just realized I forgot one of my books."

Jake smiled at her. "It's no problem."

"Believe me," Peyton added. "I'd rather you than anyone."

Haley picked up her book and looked back at them. "That's nice to know, but I'd really rather not walk in on you guys about to do it on a table in school in front of an old man again. Well, continue," she motioned for them to do so with her hand and then shut the door behind her.

"We weren't going to – what did she mean old man? Oh my God!" Peyton exclaimed as she saw that one teacher hadn't left; the ancient Mr. Hardman was sitting in his corner of the lounge, dozing silently with his head on the table.

"Sshh! You'll wake him!" Jake hushed her.

"Did you know he was here?" The look on his face told her all. "Jake Jagielski!" She hit his shoulder repeatedly, ignoring his cries of, "He's fast asleep and he couldn't see us! We were only kissing!" Peyton got up and walked around the round table so that she was opposite him, and sat down in that chair. "I'm going to sit here from now on." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

To her surprise, Jake just winked. "That's okay, honey. We can play footsie under the table," he said, reminding her of their first date, something she still hadn't lived down. "Just go easy on me if you're in heels again."

"Jake!"

* * *

Miss James wasn't there when Nathan, Lucas and Brooke arrived at their classroom after lunch. Nathan was the first to notice, but everyone, including the students who were already there, thought it interesting. Miss James was always on time, usually early, for a lesson, getting things ready while she waited for all the students to come in. Since most people knew about what had happened with Mr. Keller the three friends could hear lots of excited whispering going on about why she might be late. Brooke gave some of the more animated girls a dirty look as she moved to get a seat, but Nathan noted that not long ago she had been wondering whether Miss James had come to school.

Although they normally sat together, today there were places with two empty chairs together, but not three, so Nathan went to the back of the classroom and sat alone there. The two girls in front of him were relating the entire break-up to a girl sitting in front of them in avid detail.

"…and then she walked in on them in the bedroom!"

"No!"

"No, I heard she walked in on them having sex in the shower!"

"No, that's not what happened. It was definitely the bedroom," the first girl affirmed. "Katie told me so."

Nathan contained the urge to interrupt their gossip session by biting his tongue. He was saved from having to when Miss James flew into the classroom.

"Sorry about that. I just had to get a book for today's lesson from the faculty lounge. Well," she looked at them, "shall we get started?"

The gossip had stopped as she entered the classroom, but it was the fact that she appeared and acted just like she always did that prevented anyone from whispering behind her back. If it hadn't been for Theresa, no one would have been able to tell anything had happened at all.

All too soon for Nathan the lesson was over and everyone left, handing in their homework on their way out. She had discussed this topic with him the day she had set the homework so Nathan should have had an advantage, but he hadn't been paying enough attention to the discussion to get an A on his homework. Still, he had made sure to take some things down that day so the essay he handed in was a fairly decent one.

When he reached Haley he was the only person left in class. Lucas and Brooke were waiting outside for him, but Nathan quickly nodded to Lucas to tell him they could go. He'd just tell them later that she had wanted to talk about some of his work.

"Thank you," Haley said as she took the essay from him and placed it on top of the pile on her desk. She turned back around and noticed he hadn't moved. "Did you want to ask me something?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah…Is your Mom okay now?"

Haley smiled brightly at him. She was still slightly embarrassed by that incident, and was trying to work out what it meant, but was touched that he was asking her about it. "Yes, she's fine, Nathan. She was discharged from hospital this weekend."

"That's good. And…are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you so much for asking. I –"

A rapping at the door interrupted them. Both Haley and Nathan glanced in that direction and were surprised by the intruder.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Chris Keller asked his former girlfriend.

"Not now; I'm with a student," Haley pleaded, her face red from discomfiture.

"You can get back to the boy afterwards."

"Chris, I'll talk to you later."

"This will only take a minute. It's important."

"Actually," Nathan interrupted before Chris could go on any further, "this is really important and I don't have any free time after so Miss James promised she would help me with it now."

Chris glared at Nathan, but Nathan simply held his gaze and didn't stop glaring back until Chris roughly told Haley he'd see her in the faculty room and left.

Haley was too mortified to look Nathan in the face when she mumbled her apologies. "I am so sorry about that."

"It's no problem."

Haley forced herself to look up slightly at him. "Thank you for saying that."

"It's okay."

_No, it wasn't okay!_ she wanted to shout. _Chris had no right to do what he just did. And, when I told him to go away once he should have listened. Nathan shouldn't have had to get caught in the middle like that._

"I don't mind helping you," he told her.

"You shouldn't have had to," she said quietly.

Nathan shrugged. "It's really okay. It's not your fault that your ex-boyfriend's an asshole."

The corners of Haley's mouth began to tug upwards. "I don't think I'm supposed to condone swearing among students," she said finally.

He grinned at her. "Well, he's a jerk, then."

Haley sighed, but she met his gaze and smiled. "Thank you, Nathan. For everything."

"My pleasure."


	23. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"Hey, Peyton? Do you have a minute?"

Peyton looked over her shoulder at her best friend, who was now sitting down in front of the island in their kitchen. Closing the refrigerator door, Peyton went over to her. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

Haley twisted her hands nervously. "Well, I was wondering…did you ever…I mean…you talk to your students, right?"

"Er…well, yeah. Of course I talk to them."

"No, like, you talk to them just casually sometimes, not always about work."

"Sure." Peyton nodded. "They're aren't really that many people doing art so I end up talking to all of them, but the seniors more than the others since they're closer to our age."

"Right. Okay."

"That can't be what you wanted to ask me, Hales," Peyton said incredulously.

"Well, no, it's not…I…" Haley took a deep breath and prepared herself. "Did you ever feel that maybe…oneofyourstudentshadacrushonyou?"

Even in Haley's rush of words, Peyton caught what she said. "Oh my God! One of your students likes you!"

"I didn't say that –"

"Well, why else would you ask me, Hales? Whoa! Who is it?" Peyton asked eagerly.

"No one you know."

"Well, is he a senior? Oh – he's a he, right?"

"What! Yes, he's a he!" Haley exclaimed.

"Hey, it could have been a she. That's the age where you start to become more aware of your body and feelings and -"

"Peyton," Haley held up her hands to motion her to stop, "I don't need a lesson in understanding teenage homosexuality."

"Right. But, how do you know he likes you? Did he tell you?"

"No! No, I don't even know for sure; I just got that feeling."

"I see. So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing! He's my student, Peyton."

"If he's a senior, he won't be your student next year," Peyton pointed out.

"I don't like him!" Haley cried out.

"Why? Is he weird? Not good-looking? Although, after Keller you can't really say looks are a preference for you," she added.

"He's not weird or horrible to look at. He's a very nice boy, but that's the problem; he's a boy!" Haley stressed.

Peyton took a sip from her water bottle. "So, he's kind of childish?"

"Well…no, not really. He actually seems quite mature for his age – but none of that is the point! Even if I was attracted to him and there wasn't all this stuff with Chris, he's still my student. I'm not going to have an affair that could not only make me lose my job but go to jail as well! I just think he might have a small crush on me."

"And, you're telling me this because?" Peyton wondered.

"I…I guess because I needed someone to tell me I wasn't completely crazy."

"Of course you're not crazy! It's more than likely that this boy could like you."

"Really? Has it ever happened to you?"

"Well, not as far as I know, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. I remember when I was in school we had this really hot guy – and I mean really hot – teacher for Biology. All the girls swooned over him, including me. The same thing can happen with guys."

Haley was quiet for a minute. "You don't think I'm reading too much into it, then?"

"Haley, listen to me. You are attractive, you're friendly and you're a nice person. What's not to like? And, now," Peyton crossed her legs and picked up a bottle, "tell me what you think you're reading too much into."

"Huh? Oh, just stuff that's happened."

"So tell me the stuff that has happened with this boy that makes you think he likes you. He didn't try to grab your ass, did he? Because that's not a crush, that's sexual harassment."

"No! Nathan would never do that."

"So his name's Nathan, huh?"

Haley clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing her plan not to tell Peyton who it was had failed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Haley!" Peyton whined. "You're not even having a real relationship with this boy. At least tell me what made you first think he liked you."

Haley sighed. "Just little things!"

"Such as?" Peyton prompted.

"He was very nice to me when my Mom was in hospital," Haley said finally.

"Wasn't that the day of auditions?"

"I found out before they started, remember? Anyway, I was a mess and he kind of ran into me and he…" Haley slightly flushed at the memory, but decided she wouldn't tell Peyton the details. "He was just very nice."

"What an exciting description. Are you sure you're an English teacher?"

"Peyt!"

"Hey, auditions were on Friday - today's Friday. That was a week ago! You've been holding out on me all this time! Found yourself a new best friend, have you?"

"Of course not," Haley laughed. "I've just been dealing with work and preparations for the play and…well, Chris."

Peyton made a face. "Him. You know, that offer to go beat his ass still stands. I won't even have to ask Jake to do it – he's so scrawny I could manage it myself."

Haley smiled; glad she had Peyton through all of this. "Thank you again, but no."

"Okay. I just hate seeing you hurt."

"You know, I don't think I'm hurting as much anymore. I can finally see Chris for what he really is now, especially after Tuesday as well."

"Tuesday? What happened then?"

"Well, on Monday, Chris came to see me after a lesson, demanding we talk."

"What!"

"I was still with a student so I told him I'd speak to him later, but he wouldn't leave."

Peyton fumed. "The nerve! What did you do?"

"Well, I told him to go again, but in the end my student – Nathan, actually – kind of lied for me and said we were doing some really important work and got Chris to leave."

"I like this Nathan already. But, what happened on Tuesday?"

"We talked." Haley rolled her eyes before continuing, "Chris was annoyed about the fact that the whole school knew."

Peyton's eyes grew wide. "But that's his girlfriend's damn fault, not yours! She's the one who couldn't keep her trap shut! Why would you want everyone to know what happened!"

"That's exactly what I told him, but he didn't believe that all the gossip was Sarah's fault."

"Because she's so perfect?" Peyton said sarcastically. "She's what, nineteen? And she's sleeping with a man who's nearly thirty! Didn't you teach her last year when she was still in school?"

Haley nodded. "For one semester while her class's teacher was on maternity leave."

"God. Maybe you should have an affair with this Nathan. It could be an 'anything you can do, I can do better' sort of thing."

"I don't think so, Peyt."

"Well, then, why don't you come out with me and Jake tonight?"

"I don't want to ruin your date," Haley protested.

"Tonight's not even a real date. Jake loves basketball and he wanted to go the game tonight at the school gym," Peyton explained. "We can't do anything there."

"But, you two must be going somewhere afterwards."

"Yeah, we are. But I wasn't going to invite you to the 'after party'," Peyton winked.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that last comment."

"Please come," Peyton pouted. "I'll feel bad if you're here all in your lonesome."

"That's not really very good grammar," Haley pointed.

Peyton jumped out of her seat. "That's my Tutor-girl!" she exclaimed, using Haley's college nickname. "Now, you go get changed 'cause Jake's gonna be here in half an hour. You should look nice in case a nice boy is there."

"Peyton! Nathan is my student!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Haley. I meant nice boys who have nice fathers, some of whom may be single so we can find you a new man. You have this boy on your brain!"

"I never should have told you!" Haley yelled at Peyton's back, as she was going to her room.

"Well, you did and you can't take it back. Ha!"


	24. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Brooke paced outside the main entrance to the Whitey Durham Field House. Lucas hadn't arrived and she was starting to get a little nervous, as much as she loathed admitting it, even to herself. They were just going to watch the basketball match. She had injured her left hand on Wednesday during cheerleading practice and three of her fingers were still bandaged together. She had to let her hand heal so she wasn't on the squad for this match, but Bevin had coerced her into coming for the game. Brooke had decided she didn't want to suffer alone and so she'd asked Lucas and Nathan to come with her. Both decided to come, so it was far from a date. Not that she wanted a date with Lucas Scott. Of course she didn't. The Ice Princess might be out of the picture, but that didn't change the fact that he had liked her and – oh, who the hell was she kidding! Lucas still hadn't asked her out, nor had he made any indication that he was planning to. '_Boys!'_ she thought bitterly.

She was walking up and down so much that she almost missed Lucas and Nathan when they finally turned up, mere minutes before the game was about to start. "What took you so long?"

"Well, Lucy here," Nathan jerked his thumb in Lucas's direction, "took extra time pampering herself and then we had car trouble."

"I wasn't 'pampering' myself," Lucas protested. "And stop calling me Lucy."

"Never mind. Let's just go. We'll be lucky if we get good seats though."

Having known Brooke for some time now, both boys were aware of her habit of linking arms with the person next to her as she walked. It didn't escape either boy's notice as they made their way to the bleachers that it was Nathan's arm, and not Lucas's, that she took in hers.

Doing his best to ignore Brooke's actions – and trying even harder after he saw her grin and wave at Mouth when she hadn't even really smiled at him yet – Lucas managed to find them a place near the back with three seats available together. Lucas slid down the row first, Brooke second and Nathan last, just in time to see the start of the game.

The Tree Hill Ravens gained the lead quickly and managed to keep it up to half time. By then, Nathan was practically starving, having forgotten to get something to eat before they left Lucas' house. After the half time buzzer rang he stood up and informed Lucas and Brooke that he was going to get refreshments. "Do you guys want me to get you anything?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, thanks."

Brooke thought for a moment. Then she said, "Why don't I come with you?"

At the look on Lucas' face Nathan interjected, "You don't need to. I'm sure I can manage to carry everything."

"Yeah, but I can't decide what I want so I'd rather see what they have." Before either boy could say anything she had already stood up and looked at Nathan expectantly, waiting for him to move.

He did and the two of them were out of the bleachers quickly and started the long walk to the refreshment stand.

"So, what's going on with you?"

Brooke looked up at Nathan curiously. "Nothing, why?"

"Just…you and Lucas."

Brooke looked at her feet as she walked forwards. "There's nothing going on with me and Lucas."

"Well, of course there isn't if you start running every time you two might be alone together."

Brooke immediately stopped walking. "Hey! That is not fair!"

"I'm sorry, Brooke," Nathan said, and he meant it too when he saw the look on her face. "I just thought that you two were gonna get together."

Brooke folded her arms. "So did I. Guess that didn't work out, huh?"

"It can still work out, Br-"

"Not after Rachel. Well, not so soon after that," she amended. "He obviously had some sort of attraction to her and if she wasn't in juvie now they might be together."

"Brooke, trust me, that wouldn't have happened."

"But, it could have. And I can't just pretend like it didn't happen."

"So where does that leave you?" Nathan asked.

"Friends, like we said." When Nathan looked like he wanted to argue the topic some more she pulled him by the arm, "Come on. If there's a crowd and we get really late in line we'll never get our food before half time is over."

As they resumed walking someone came from the other side of the bleachers, on Nathan's right, and as she was busy talking on her phone, she didn't see Nathan or Brooke. Since she was quiet now Nathan wasn't sure that Brooke had seen her either; but Nathan had definitely spotted Miss Haley James. She had walked in front of them and reached the refreshment stand first, so Nathan and Brooke took their places in line behind her.

Brooke immersed herself in reading the menu on the board while Nathan watched Haley from behind. She was more casual than she was at school, simply wearing a pair of jeans and an orange tank top, but the look suited her. Her hair was loose and long, reaching halfway down her back, which was how Nathan liked it. When she closed her phone and put it in her jean pocket the movement drew Nathan's attention to her shoulders, which were revealed by her sleeveless top.

"Hey, how big are their popcorn sizes?"

"Huh?" Nathan looked at Brooke.

"Their popcorn; how big are their sizes?" Brooke repeated.

"Uh…small, medium and large."

Brooke laughed. "No, I mean, is their medium really a normal medium or is it a bit larger?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know." Brooke went back to perusing the menu, while Nathan tried to make himself stop staring at Haley, who was patiently waiting her turn, oblivious to Nathan's attention from behind.

Unable to look at anything else, Nathan forced himself to close his eyes. Then he saw a lot more skin than just her shoulders. He didn't open his eyes again until he felt Brooke nudge him in the elbow.

"Why aren't you moving?"

Nathan saw that Haley was now at the counter and paying for what she wanted, so he and Brooke took a step forward. When Haley turned around, coke in hand, she saw both Nathan and Brooke and smiled at them before leaving. They smiled back, with Nathan's gaze following her retreating figure for so long that Brooke had to nudge him again and remind him he hadn't asked for his food.

After Nathan paid for their refreshments they headed back, but Brooke stopped him before they reached the bleachers. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Nathan replied and took a sip of his coke, assuming they had gone back to their earlier conversation regarding her and Lucas.

Brooke glanced around to see if there was anyone near them before continuing. "Do you like…Miss James?"

Nathan sputtered on his drink. "Wh-what? N-no!"

Brooke couldn't help but smile. "You do, don't you?"

"No, of course I don't. I just said I don't. I –"

"It's okay, Nathan. I mean, she's a pretty cool teacher. And she's pretty and not really that much older than you anyway."

Nathan was able to refrain from informing Brooke that she was actually one year younger than him because he was still in shock. "I really don't like her – I don't know why you would say that –"

"You always look at her. Like, in class, you never look anywhere else."

"I look at her so I can hear what she's saying to take down notes."

"You never write anything in your books, Nathan," Brooke said, and he knew he couldn't argue with that. "And it's not just in class; whenever she's around that's where you're looking. And you talk to her a lot."

"She's giving me extra lessons to help me with my work."

"Then why aren't your grades really, really high?" Brooke asked.

"Maybe I'm just not smart enough," Nathan countered. "And how do you know what grades I get?"

"I sit next to you in class; I can see your papers. And we have other classes together so I know that you actually are quite smart."

"I don't like her."

"It's okay that you do."

"But I don't!" Nathan protested again.

Brooke seemed to be considering this; then she grinned. "Don't worry. I won't tell." Before Nathan could argue some more she turned on her heel and walked up the stands to where they had been sitting, leaving Nathan no choice but to follow her.

Brooke slid down the row where Lucas was waiting for them. "What took you so long?"

Brooke smiled. "We just had a little chat."

"Oh." Lucas glowered at Nathan before turning his gaze back to the game, which had just restarted.

Startled by Brooke's revelation, and the fear that she wasn't the only person who had noticed, Nathan tried to concentrate on the game instead of searching for Haley's face in the opposite bleachers. Just as his willpower started to weaken he heard a loud noise emit from the crowd. He looked back at the game and saw that the Ravens had dropped the ball, and the other team had taken it down their side of the court.

"Hey, look," Brooke called Lucas and Nathan. "Is he okay?"

Their attention was drawn to the boy who had dropped the ball. He was shaking all over. And then, suddenly, he collapsed.


	25. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"No!"

"But –"

"No!"

"If you'd just –"

"I said, no!"

Jake and Nathan glanced at each other, before looking back at one very angry principal, who currently had his back to them as he stood by the window in his office. Although his parents had tried to hush it up everyone knew that Vegas, the boy who had collapsed at the game on Friday, had done so because he had taken drugs. More specifically he had collapsed due to dehydration, because he hadn't taken enough water with the drugs.

Mr. Durham, who had been a basketball coach at Tree Hill High before he had retired early to care for his sick wife and then returned long after her death to become principal, was horrified at the revelation, but even more so by Jake and Nathan's suggestion.

Jake took a deep breath and started to explain once more. "Whitey, if this boy was taking drugs then some of his friends on the team must have known. If Nathan could join the team –"

"If Nathan joined the team then they would be cheating," Whitey told them calmly.

"Sir," Nathan cut in, "if Vegas wasn't the only boy on drugs then the team may have been cheating anyway – and for a long time now."

Whitey got even angrier, if that was possible, and returned to looking out the window while Jake kicked Nathan to tell him to stop talking. Jake took over the conversation, "Mr. Durham – Whitey –I know you want to get rid of this drug dealer as much as we do. This is the best lead we have right now and in order to follow it up we need someone to have access to that team and the locker room."

"Alright," Whitey said finally.

"So Nathan can be on the team?"

"No." When both Nathan and Jake looked puzzled, Whitey continued, "I'm making you assistant coach, Jake."

"Assistant coach?" he repeated.

"You'll get to be at all the practice sessions and you'll have access to search through all the lockers."

"Oh. But, see, we thought that if Nathan could be on the team, then he would be able to talk to the boys and become friends with them…"

"By all means befriend the boys, Nathan," Whitey told him, "but, I'm sorry, I can't put you on that team. We have to keep records of the boys who play, and I'm sure the police station might be able to create a fake birth certificate for you, but the moment you step on that court it's cheating."

"I don't have to play in the games; I can just be on the team –" Nathan began to argue.

"Jake tells me that you used to play for your school, Nathan, so if I put you on the team there's a more than fifty percent chance that the coach will play you at least once. I can't tell him about the situation and he's not going to like me giving him an assistant in the first place, but it's the most I can do for you," Whitey said firmly, and both Nathan and Jake could see he wasn't backing down.

"Alright then," Jake conceded.

The sound of the bell made both Jake and Nathan stand up. "I have to get to class," Nathan said, and picked up his bag. After Nathan left, Jake moved to follow him out, but Whitey stopped him.

"Yeah?"

"I'll come find you after school once I've spoken to the coach about it."

Jake nodded. "Okay."

"How is Miss Sawyer?"

Jake stared at his fake boss for a moment. "Uh-what?"

Whitey smiled, for the first time since Jake and Nathan had entered. "Your relationship with Peyton; how is it?"

"You…you know about that…"

"It's quite obvious, Jake. Well, not to everyone, but when you're my age you notice things like this easily."

"Oh…"

"I have no problem with it, if that's what you're wondering."

"You don't?" Jake asked.

"Not at all. I'd be much more worried if Nathan seemed to be showing an interest in one of the students," Whitey laughed. "Just be careful."

"Be careful?"

"Peyton is a wonderful woman, but I don't know if you've ever seen her angry. Just remember; she might not be thrilled when she finds out about the case," Whitey said wisely, leaving Jake with something to think about for the rest of the day.

* * *

After dinner that night, Nathan and Lucas went upstairs to Lucas's room. "So, I'm sorry you couldn't be on the team," Lucas told him.

Nathan just shrugged. "Whitey's right – if they play me, then it's cheating. Plus, at least Jake will have some kind of access, right?"

Lucas shook his head. "I didn't mean just for the case – I figured you would have been looking forward to being able to play after, you know, you had to stop playing in high school when you got injured."

"It doesn't matter," Nathan said.

Lucas could tell that it did, but decided not to push it. "So…when Jake's assistant coach what's he going to do, exactly?"

"Well, Jake said the coach wasn't exactly happy with his appointment so I don't think he'll let Jake take practice sessions or anything, but he'll be allowed to be there, which is what we really need. Of course –"

"I have an idea!" Lucas exclaimed, suddenly, sitting up straighter.

Nathan looked curious. "Which is?"

"I could join the team! I mean, I'm not excellent, but I'm not terrible. And they'll be having tryouts won't they, now that Vegas can't play?"

"Yeah, they're having tryouts. But that doesn't mean you'd definitely be picked."

"We can always try," Lucas argued. "If I don't get on the team then we'll just have to leave it. If I do get picked, then I'll be able to talk to the guys more than Jake can and I can see what they know about Vegas taking the drugs."

"And who gave them to him," Nathan realized, warming to the idea.

"So what do you think?"

"Are you sure you want to get involved in the case again?" Nathan wondered. "Last time you did, things didn't exactly work out well with you and Brooke."

"I don't see how joining a basketball team could worsen my relationship with Brooke. Besides, she's a cheerleader now so it might even make it better," Lucas pointed out.

"That's true. I'll have to call Jake first, though, and see what he thinks." Nathan got up off the floor to use the phone, but when he did so he distinctly heard a creak on the floorboards outside the door.

Nathan and Lucas shared a look before Lucas called out, "Mom? Dad?"

When the only answer was another creak on the wood, Nathan crossed the distance to the door with a single step and opened it. There was someone there, about to leave, but it wasn't either of Lucas' parents. "Brooke!"

She turned around to face Nathan; a sheepish smile on her face, but a number of questions in her eyes. "Hi." After a moment's silence, she voiced one of those questions. "What did you guys mean by 'the case'?"


	26. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four****  
**  
The following morning Nathan was sitting in the principal's office once again, but this time his nervousness wasn't because he was afraid to face the wrath of Mr. Durham. In fact, Whitey wasn't even going to be present. Nathan was about to talk to Jake and Whitey had said they could use his office.

A few minutes later, Jake walked in, apologizing for his delay. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, leaning against one of the filing cabinets.

"Well, there are two things actually. Firstly, Lucas wants to try out for the basketball team. He's good and he'll probably get a place and we thought that if he can talk to the guys and find out more about them, then you'll know which ones to look out for, rather than trying to take on them all by yourself."

Jake nodded as he listened to Nathan present his argument. "That's a good idea. As long as he tells one of us whatever he finds and doesn't get too involved with anything potentially dangerous."

"That's what I told him."

"Okay, so, what's the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Here, Nathan paused. "Well, you see…we were discussing this last night… in Lucas' room."

Jake looked curiously at Nathan when he didn't continue. "Okay…"

"And, well…"

Jake grew impatient. "'Well what, Nathan?"

"We were sort of overheard."

"But Lucas' parents already know about the case."

"Not by them. By Brooke."

"Brooke? Your friend? What were you doing talking about the case in front of her?"

"We didn't know she was there!" Nathan tried to explain. "We were just in Lucas' room after dinner, talking, and Brooke came over to see Lucas, Aunt Deb let her in, she came upstairs and his door was slightly open so she overheard."

"Didn't you hear the doorbell ring?"

Nathan shook his head. "No. We didn't know she was coming either."

Jake sighed, his hand on his head as if he had a headache. "Did you at least come up with a good cover?"

Nathan grimaced.

Jake's eyes grew wide at Nathan's expression. "You told her the truth!"

"She had heard too much already, Jake," Nathan told him. "She won't tell anyone."

"Isn't this the same girl who knows all the gossip in school and is why we found out about Rachel in the first place?"

Nathan paused. "Well, yes, but she promised she wouldn't tell anyone about this."

"Oh, well, if she promised, then I'm sure we can believe her," Jake deadpanned.

Nathan stood up. "We can believe her, Jake. Catching this guy is important to Brooke too – she got drugged that night, remember?"

Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked around the small office. "How much did you tell her?" he asked finally.

"At first I only told her about me, but when Lucas and I were talking I had mentioned you because I was going to call you, so I had to tell her about you as well."

"So, basically, you told her everything."

"Almost," Nathan admitted, watching as Jake remained quiet and stared out the window for a while. "Well? Jake?"

Jake shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it now."

"So, I guess I should go then?"

"Yeah, you should probably get to class."

Nathan picked up his bag and was about to leave, but turned to look back to Jake. "Hey, you okay, man?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugged again. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

A thought popped into Nathan's head, and he wondered whether or not to talk to Jake about something else that had been on his mind for a while. Finally, he decided to take the opening. "Girl problems?" 

Jake immediately caught Nathan's gaze. He was smirking, as usual, but Jake could tell that his friend was being serious. "Er…no."

Nathan kept smirking. "Then your lack of sleep has nothing to do with a certain blond-haired art teacher?"

Jake was shocked, but couldn't help but smile. "How did you know?"

"Well, you're not the most subtle of guys, Jagielski. And even if I hadn't noticed I still wouldn't have forgotten that one time Brooke complained about the hot history teacher being taken."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Hot?"

"Her words. She was slightly embarrassed when she found out that you and I were friends."

"Well, at least Brooke has good taste." Jake sighed and composed himself. "I was going to tell you about Peyton, Nate. But, at first, I didn't even know if anything would come of it and when it did get serious…" Jake trailed off. "I haven't told her about the case. She thinks I really am a history teacher."

"I'm guessing you're trying to put that conversation off as long as possible."

"Pretty much. Thanks for being so cool about this. I know we're not supposed to date, but…"

"You like her a lot, don't you?"

Jake looked up from the spot on the floor he was staring at. "Actually…I think I'm in love with her."

Nathan was surprised. "Wow."

"Yeah, it is."

"You know, I never thought that you…"

"I never thought that I would either," Jake admitted. "But, Peyton's just…Peyton. You would like her, Nate."

"Well, maybe when this thing is over I'll get to meet her properly – if she's forgiven you by then," Nathan added.

Jake tried to smile, but wasn't very successful. "Let's hope so. So it was really obvious?" he asked a second later.

Nathan shrugged. "A little, but I guess it was easier for me to notice some of the signs since I know you."

"You know, even Whitey noticed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he talked to me about it after our meeting with him yesterday."

"Looks like nothing gets past the old man. Was he mad?"

"No, he was cool with it. He said he'd be more worried if he thought you were dating some high school girl."

"What?" Nathan exclaimed, and then couldn't help laughing.

"You're not, are you?"

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "You have got to be kidding me. Jake, man, tell me you don't seriously mean that."

"Well…" Jake began.

"What!"

"Look, you've been hanging out with 17 and 18 year olds a lot, and not all of them are going to be really immature, so it would be understandable if you were slightly attracted to someone."

"So you think that I like someone in the twelfth grade?"

Jake waited for a moment. "Well, you do mention that Brooke an awful lot –"

"Holy shit, man! Forget that Brooke is in the twelfth grade; she is totally Lucas's girl."

"Lucas's?"

"Yeah!" Nathan nodded his head for emphasis.

"You never said they were dating."

"They weren't. They liked each other and then Rachel screwed that up, but now that she knows I guess they'll work things out as long as Lucas doesn't wait for too long. I'm sure I mentioned that Lucas liked Brooke or she liked him – or just something about them to you," Nathan declared.

"Yeah, I think you did. But that didn't mean you couldn't like her as well –"

"I don't! That is, not like that. Brooke's cool, but she's just a friend."

"A 25-year-old man friends with a 17-year-old girl?" Jake wondered.

"It doesn't make sense to me either," Nathan stated, "but that's all there is."

"Okay. So, then, there's no one at all?"

"I-er-no."

Jake grinned. "Who is it?"

"I just said no," Nathan told him, and reached for the door handle. "Bye, then."

"No, you muttered something before you said no, and that means that you're not telling me something."

"I wasn't muttering. I-I think I'm coming down with something. A small cold. I just coughed a little."

"I know the difference between a cough and speech. Some cop you are if you can't think of a good cover. That's twice in two days," Jake reminded him.

"You think maybe you're reading too much into it?"

"I think you're awfully nervous if there's nothing to hide. Tell me, who is she?"

"She…she's a teacher," Nathan finally groaned.

"Thank God."

"Huh?"

"Well, I was a little worried for a second that it was a student with the way you were acting."

"Er, no. She's just a teacher."

"Okay. Wait, she's not my –"

"No, she's not your teacher," Nathan cut Jake off when he understood Jake's expression.

"Well, who is she? What's her name?"

"Um…her name…"

"Well?" Jake prodded.

"Haley."

"Haley? As in Haley James? My girlfriend's roommate Haley James?"

"As far as I know there aren't any other members of staff named Haley."

"Whoa." Jake contemplated this for a few minutes. "How did that happen?"

"What? Nothing happened she thinks I'm her student –"

"No," Jake interrupted, "I mean, how did you start liking her? You two aren't exactly similar. To be perfectly honest I can't really picture the two of you together."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just…I'm kind of surprised."

"Yeah, well…I guess we'll both be in trouble when the truth comes out, right?"

"Yeah. Although you not so much," he added. At Nathan's questioning glance, Jake continued, "You know, since Haley doesn't really have a reason to be mad at you. It's not like you two are dating. She doesn't like you."

"Oh, right." Nathan forced a smile. "No, I guess not."


	27. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five **

While Jake and Nathan were cooped up in Whitey's office, Lucas and Brooke were enjoying their free period out on the lawn in front of the main school building. At first they had gone to the library, but since Brooke had wanted to practice her lines they had had to find a place where they could talk.

"Do you want to do that part again?" Lucas asked when they reached the point her character exited the scene.

Brooke shook her head. "No, it's okay. I think I know that one well. Do you want me to help you with some of your lines now?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Well, basketball tryouts are this afternoon and if I get on the team, then I might not be able to do the play."

"You're going to drop out?" Brooke exclaimed.

"I just don't think I could manage basketball, the play and schoolwork."

"Substitute cheerleading for basketball, and I am!" Brooke reminded him.

"You're used to it. You do cheerleading and the school play every year – normally I don't do either. And if I have to drop one then maybe it should be the play since I might get stage fright again."

"What if you get…" Brooke paused as she searched for the word, "court fright?"

"What?"

"What's to say that you won't get afraid about performing on court?"

"Nothing is. That could happen too, but I'm a little more confident about playing basketball than I am about acting so there's less of a chance that it will. Plus, being on the team is more important."

"Because of the case?" Brooke guessed.

Lucas nodded. "Exactly. How do you feel about that by the way?"

Brooke shrugged. "I'm still getting used to it, honestly. I mean, I know I got drugged, but it's a little scary to think that the problem is so bad that the police sent undercover cops into school. And I became friends with one of them without having any clue as to who he was! I just totally accepted that Nathan was a high school student without a second thought."

"You had no reason to believe that he wasn't," Lucas stated.

"I know. But the whole thing is just a little…unsettling. I hope they manage to get this guy soon though."

"Me too," Lucas agreed. Both paused for a long moment before Lucas spoke again, "Hey, Brooke? We're cool, right?"

Brooke narrowed her eyes. "Uh…yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"No, I mean…Last night I tried to tell you about Rachel, but you left so soon after Nathan and I explained about the case that I couldn't. I want you to know that I was only with her because of the case. If we hadn't thought that she could be the drug dealer I never would have –"

"I know." Brooke smiled reassuringly at him.

"Okay." Lucas smiled back at her, and the two shared a small moment before Lucas dropped his head. "So," he began, picking up the book in his lap and opening it, "do you want to go over some more of your lines?"

"Wait a minute. That's it?" Brooke said suddenly.

"What's it?"

"That! That's all you have to say?"

"What do you mean-"

"Don't you have anything else to say? Or ask me, maybe?" Brooke insisted.

"Uh…no?"

"Then why were you so concerned that we were 'cool'?" Brooke emphasized the last word by using air quotations.

"Because I want things to be okay between us, Brooke."

Brooke took a deep breath. "Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I had this feeling that you were, maybe – even the teensiest bit – attracted to me."

Lucas mouth formed an 'O', surprised by her frankness. "Well, yeah, I –"

"Well, then why haven't you done anything about it?" Brooke demanded, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I – well, I – I wasn't sure if you –" Lucas stuttered.

"You weren't sure about me! I sent you all the signs!" Brooke exclaimed.

"What signs?"

"What signs?" she repeated, only ten times louder. "How about the book-reading?"

"You said you liked reading!"

"Magazines, chick-lit and the occasional mystery novel," Brooke enlightened him. "What makes you think I would read a book called The Winter of Our Discontent for fun?"

"B-but you finished it in two days."

"Oh, I skipped a couple of pages," Brooke dismissed it easily. "And even if you couldn't get that, I sent you all the other signs! I even did the jealousy thing by hanging out with Nathan more than you sometimes."

"Oh," Lucas said glumly. "Well, that worked."

"Not well enough, clearly! God, Lucas, you couldn't have expected me to wait around forever! I have been asked out by other guys, you know."

Lucas came to life at this last statement. "What other guys?"

"Well, Mouth, for one."

"I thought you two were just friends."

"We are now. Oh, and Felix too, after he broke up with his girlfriend. When they were still going out he asked me if I wanted to 'benefit' with him."

Lucas was beginning to turn slightly red in the face. "You can't date him! Felix is an ass!"

"I know he is; that's why I said no to him. And I can date whoever I want to so don't tell me what to do! I mean, Winter Formal will be coming up in a few weeks time and I'm not going dateless just because you didn't ask me to go."

"It wasn't like I was never going to ask you out," Lucas said quietly.

"Well, it doesn't look like you were going to anytime soon! I mean, what were you waiting for, Lucas?" Brooke asked. "For me to shout, 'kiss me, you fool!' and throw myself in your face so you definitely wouldn't misinterpret the meaning? Well?" Brooke prodded when he didn't reply.

"Er…okay."

"Huh?"

And then Lucas, fool that he was, leaned forward and kissed her.

* * *

After his heart-to-heart with Jake, Nathan left the principal's office with his thoughts in confusion, so he wasn't all there when he met Lucas and Brooke on their way to class.

"Hi!" Brooke beamed at him.

Lucas chuckled. "Hey; how'd your meeting with Jake go?"

"It went okay," he said, as he fell into step with them. "I told him that you're going to tryout for the team and that Brooke knows."

"Is he mad?" Brooke asked.

"He was, a little, but I think he's okay now."

"That's good," Brooke said, and Lucas nodded his head in agreement.

As they walked further down the hallway, Nathan glanced around and noticed something that had missed his gaze earlier. Brooke and Lucas were holding hands. "Wait a minute." Nathan stopped in his tracks. "Are you two…" his question trailed off, but Brooke nodded eagerly at him. "Finally!"

Brooke giggled. "See!" she told Lucas as she punched him lightly in the arm. "Even Nathan saw the signs."

The bell rang, signaling that they were late for their next class. "Well, I better go now before I get even later," Lucas said.

"Okay. Bye, Broody." Brooke stood on her tip-toes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Lucas grinned. "Bye, Cheery."

"Oh, god. You've been going out for five minutes and you already have sappy nicknames for each other."

Lucas glared at Nathan, but Brooke simply smiled. "You're just jealous."

"That no one calls me 'Broody'?"

"That you're all alone," Brooke clarified.

"I'll see you at lunch," Lucas told them, and after kissing Brooke one last time, he turned down the corridor.

"You know," Brooke said, taking a step closer to Nathan and linking arms with him, "I think Miss James would call you 'Broody' if you asked her nicely."

"Brooke! There are people in the hallway," Nathan muttered harshly.

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of. She's not even really your teacher so it's less ew than I first thought – in fact, it's totally legal. And I think you guys would be cute together. You're just what she needs after that whole ordeal she went through with Mr. Keller."

"Could we not discuss this, please?"

"Well, since you said please…No! It's too much fun! I love knowing things other people don't know."

"As long as you keep it so that way."

"Of course I will," Brooke replied, as they approached the door to their classroom. "Just trust me, okay?"

* * *

Hours later, Brooke was dragging Nathan into the boy's locker room. They had both gone to the gym after school to see Lucas tryout for the basketball team, but while they had been waiting there Brooke had suddenly stood up, saying she had an idea, and pulled him out of there. "Brooke, what are we doing here?"

"We're looking for evidence. Isn't that what you cops do?"

"Yes, but –"

"So, we're here to find evidence of drug use in the boy's locker room."

"What?"

"God, Nathan," Brooke said exasperatedly. "Are you sure you're a cop? All the boys on the team are in the gym because the coach is making them tryout as well to keep their places. So, all their stuff is in here. Some of that stuff may include drugs!"

"Brooke, I get why this is good for the case, but you can't be here."

"Why not?"

"You're a civilian. You can't get involved."

"What! That is so not fair! Lucas is involved!" Brooke pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Geez, the justice system is totally sexist."

"Let's just get back to the gym, now."

Brooke ignored him. "Since we're already here we may as well search." And with that she started pulling at locker doors, seeing which ones would open.

"Brooke!" Nathan exclaimed, moving forward to stop her. "Anyone could come in."

"Which means we have to make use of this golden opportunity now! Come on, Nathan, I want to help!"

"I get that you do, Brooke, and this is a good idea. But, no one who keeps that stuff in their locker would leave it unlocked and I don't have the tools to crack one open – and, even if I did, it would take too long."

Brooke's exuberance visibly deflated. "Oh. Okay, then. But will you let me help at least a little?"

"Why don't you talk to the cheerleaders or any other girls you know; ones who are dating guys on the team," Nathan suggested. "If their boyfriend's are involved with drugs, then they might know about it."

"Okay." Brooke smiled, warming to the idea. "Okay, I'll do it. I'm a good people person."

"Alright. Let's get back to the -" Nathan stopped before he finished his sentence at the sound of the locker room door banging open. Nathan's eyes opened wide. He could come up with a reason for being there, but Brooke would definitely get into trouble. He took her hand and, signaling for her to be quiet, led her to the back of the room, where they crouched down behind the lockers.

Both stayed silent, but Nathan started racking his brain for excuses as he heard the footsteps grow louder. Suddenly he heard Brooke whisper, "Kiss me."

Nathan whipped his head around. "What?" he whispered back.

"It's the only feasible excuse for us being in here."

"Brooke, I'm not going to kiss you."

"I said, 'Act like your about to kiss me!'" she told him, quietly. "Ew!" she added. "No offense; it's not that you're not good-looking or anything, but I'm not really into the older guy thing. Passed that phase a long time ago."

"Okay, okay." Nathan put his finger to his mouth, motioning for her to stop talking.

He turned his head to the left and tried to peer out from behind the lockers when a voice called, "Nathan?"

Brooke closed her eyes. "Busted."

Nathan, however, stood up. "Jake?"

Jake came out from the shadows and into Nathan's line of vision. "What are you doing here, man?"

Nathan smiled. "Looking for evidence."

When Jake raised an eyebrow, Brooke stood up and waved awkwardly at him. "Hi. It's my fault; I thought we could come in here and look for evidence while everyone was in the gym. I didn't really think the plan through." Brooke shook her head and looked at the ground. "This never happens to Veronica Mars."


	28. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six**

"Nathan. Nathan? Nathan!" Lucas' repeated calls combined with him poking Nathan's shoulder finally managed to wake his cousin up after he fell asleep in their biology class a few days later.

Nathan's head shot up and he blinked his eyes a few times to make sure he was awake.

"Did you get any sleep at all last night, Nate?" Lucas wondered. "You even slept through the bell."

"So…class is over?"

"Yeah, but I kind of have a favour to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Brooke asked me to meet before her next class because after school she's doing this project and I have basketball practice so we won't see each other."

"And how can I help?" Nathan asked as he started packing his bag.

"Mr. Bateman just asked us all to clear up our tables before we leave, but if I stay I'll be late and –"

"You want me to clean it up by myself? No problem," he said when Lucas nodded in response to his question.

"Thanks, man." Lucas quickly collected his books and left.

Looking around, Nathan could see that, as usual, most people in his bio class had dumped clean-up duties on their lab partner so there weren't that many people left in the classroom with him. Normally he let Lucas take care of most of the work, so he wasn't sure where everything went. That added to his sluggishness after a mere three hours of sleep for two nights in a row, having got home late both previous days due to working with Jake at the station, meant he was the slowest person in the lab, and consequently the last person in the room.

As he picked up the final few beakers from the table, he mused on the dream Lucas had woken him up from. He had been in another classroom, but it had been a lot more interesting than this as it had involved someone who'd become a feature in his dreams lately; the –

"Hello?"

Nathan spun around at the sound of a voice coming from the door and, when he saw who it was, accidentally dropped the beaker in his hands.

Haley had just been about to say she'd realized she was in the wrong class when she saw the glass shatter to pieces. She put her books down on the front desk and came over to Nathan who had bent down to start picking them up. "Are you alright?" she asked. "I'm sorry if I startled you."

"No, it's okay. It's not your fault. I should have been paying more attention to what I was doing," he told her. As they picked up the pieces and put them on the table, he wondered, "Were you here to see Dr. Bateman? Because he left –"

"No, I was here for a class, but I mixed up the labs."

"Labs?"

"One of the chemistry teachers is absent so I'm just covering her lesson, but since I never go to the labs I got confused as to which one I'm supposed to go to," Haley explained.

"Oh, okay." Nathan nodded. "You know, I can clean up the rest."

"Are you sure? You'll be late for your class."

Nathan shrugged. "It's okay. I can take care of it."

"Okay, then." Haley gave him a small smile as she stood back up. She walked towards the door and picked up her books, before she turned back to look at him. "See you tomorrow… in class, I mean," she added unnecessarily.

"Bye."

* * *

Lucas managed to find Brooke before the second bell so they had a few minutes together.

"Hi, Broody!" She smiled when she saw him and gave him a quick kiss. "So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing; why?"

"Do you want to come over?"

Lucas grimaced. "I don't know…" The day before he would have eagerly accepted – which he had done – but Brooke's housekeeper had walked in on them in her bedroom and had all but chased Lucas to his car, taking his jacket from the coat rack and throwing it at him, before banging the front door shut.

"I'm really really sorry about that," Brooke apologized once more, trying not to blush from embarrassment as she remembered the previous night. "But I wouldn't have asked if I hadn't found out last period that my housekeeper not going to be home tonight."

"She's not?"

Brooke shook her head. "She sent me a message about an hour ago saying one of her daughters just had a baby a few weeks earlier than expected, so she's leaving to California this afternoon and she'll only be coming back next month."

"Next month?" Lucas asked hopefully.

Brooke nodded. "Uh-huh. And I doubt my parents will turn up anytime soon so you can come over a lot between now and then," she told him, a knowing grin on her face.

"Okay; I'll see you tonight then," he said, just as the second bell rang.

She kissed Lucas goodbye before smirking at him. "Who knows," she whispered in his ear, "maybe you'll get past second base."

* * *

"Er, Nathan? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Nathan had been looking out the window in the room that was his during his stay at his uncle's house, but turned around when he heard Lucas calling him from the door. "Sure. Come on in." Lucas complied, and closed the door behind him. Noticing, that Lucas had changed his clothes since dinner, Nathan asked, "Going out?"

"Brooke asked me to come over."

"What did you want to talk about?" Nathan wondered.

"Er…I…This is kind of weird," Lucas said finally.

"Okay…Do you need advice about something?" he guessed.

"Sort of. I, um…I'm asking because I need to talk to someone who's older, you know," Lucas explained.

"And you don't want to ask your parents?"

"God, no! No," Lucas repeated calming down. "This is not something I can talk about with them.

"Okay. Well, tell me. I can't help you out if you don't."

"Right…Okay, so today," Lucas began, "when Brooke asked me to come over she kind of said something."

"What did she say?"

"That maybe I'd get past second base," Lucas said quickly.

Nathan grimaced. "Well, I'd have preferred not to know that, but okay…So, what, you feel like she's moving too fast? Since you guys only started dating a few days ago?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?" Nathan prodded, slightly afraid of the answer.

Lucas took a deep breath before he finally admitted, "I've never been past that."

Nathan's eyes widened and he was certain that if he had been drinking something he would have spat it out. "So you've…never had sex?"

Lucas looked at the ground and shook his head. "No."

"Okay…so…you don't want me to tell Brooke for you, do you?"

"No! No, I just…do I really have to tell her?" Lucas asked.

"Well, yeah! Of course you do."

"We couldn't just avoid it for a little while?" Lucas hoped.

"This is Brooke, Lucas. She'll start jumping to conclusions if you move away from her every time she tries to take your shirt off."

"Hey, I didn't say I've never been –"

Nathan held up a hand to cut him off. "I don't want to know the details. Just tell Brooke. Hell, she may even find it endearing."

Lucas snorted. "Right. Well, I guess I better go then."

Nathan nodded. "And tell her quickly. Otherwise she might think you're trying to tell her something else…like you're gay."

"You're a real riot, you know that."

"Come on, it'll be fine."

"Okay, okay. See you."

"See you."

"Hey…" Lucas stopped at the door. "You don't think it's weird, right? That I haven't…"

"No," Nathan jumped in, realizing Lucas' meaning. "There are lots of other people your age who haven't."

"Right." Lucas nodded. "Had you?"

"Me?"

"How old were you?" Lucas asked.

Nathan shrugged. "That doesn't matter."

"Come on, tell me."

"Er…14," Nathan confessed.

"Thanks…That makes me feel so much better."

**A/N: First of all, I apologize for the delay with this chapter but it was not my fault! I was going to post it on Wednesday but my computer crashed that morning and I only just got it back. Luckily, most of my files - including all my story files - were not lost so I can update now. There's Jeyton in the next chapter and there'll be lots of Naley very soon.**


	29. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

That night, as Lucas was leaving his house to go to Brooke's, Jake and Peyton were exiting the restaurant where they had just had dinner. Hand in hand they walked along the pavement to where Jake's car was parked down the road.

"Jake, honey?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Did you not like the food?" Peyton asked, curiously.

"What? No, the food was fine. Didn't you like it?"

"I really liked it," she replied. "I was just wondering if it disagreed with you or something. You've been really quiet tonight."

"Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Lots of work?" she guessed.

Jake nodded. "Yeah." Only it wasn't the kind of work she was talking about. Peyton had been busy lately, helping Haley prepare for the play and as a result, this was their first proper date since Whitey had spoken to him that morning in his office. He couldn't help but mull over his words, and even though he had been appointed assistant coach, he felt that he and Nathan were no where nearer to finding the drug dealer than they had been when they came to Tree Hill High at the beginning of the semester; all they had achieved was to put a girl in juvie, and thanks to a deal she'd made with the judge she'd be out of there soon anyway.

"Well, if you're piled up with work maybe someone else can help with the boy's basketball team?" Peyton suggested; a concerned note in her voice. "I'm sure there must be another teacher who can do it."

"It's okay. It's just this week; next week it'll be fine," Jake told her. "I'm sorry; I won't drift anymore."

"Well, you better not," Peyton said teasingly. "Haley's sisters are in town and she's spending the night with them so you and I have the apartment all to ourselves and I certainly don't want you elsewhere then."

Jake chuckled. "I promise I won't be." They had reached his car by then so he leaned forward and, after unlocking the door, opened the passenger side for Peyton to get in. She hesitated. "Peyton?"

"I have to tell you something," she said suddenly, making Jake acutely aware of the fact that that should be his line.

"Er…sure."

"Well, actually, it's something to ask you – not tell you."

"Go ahead," he prompted.

"What are you going to be doing next Friday?" she asked.

Jake didn't have to think very hard. "Nothing. I don't have plans."

"So how would you feel about going somewhere with me?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?" Jake wondered.

Peyton avoided his gaze. "To dinner with my Dad," she said quietly.

"Your Dad?"

"I told you he travels a lot, right?"

"Yeah, on his boat."

"Well, he's docking in next Thursday really close to Tree Hill. He's only here for a few days before he goes to another country but he wants to meet me before he goes back – obviously – and I just thought…maybe you two could meet as well?"

"You want me to meet your Dad," Jake said sullenly. Jake considered himself good with parents and one of his previous girlfriends' fathers had liked him simply because he was "an officer of the law", but, of course, he couldn't tell Mr. Sawyer that. _Maybe the case will be solved by next Friday, _he thought. _Or maybe the case will never be solved and it'll just go on and on and Nathan will have to keep repeating senior year and I'll have to keep teaching kids who don't want to learn – until we get fired and they put new people on the case and – _

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Peyton said quickly, cutting into his thoughts. "It was just an idea."

Jake realized that she took his silence to mean he didn't want to come – which wasn't altogether untrue; it just wasn't for the reason she was thinking of. "No, I'll come," he told her before he could stop himself. A moment later he thought he would fake an illness next Friday morning, but when she beamed at him he knew he had to go.

"You really don't mind?"

"No, I don't mind. If you want me to go, I'll go."

Peyton grinned even wider before hugging Jake and giving him a smacking kiss on the lips.

When she pulled back, Jake kept his arms around her waist to make her stay. "And here I thought you weren't a fan of PDA," he remarked.

"Sometimes it's okay."

"Like now?"

Peyton nodded. "Like now."

"Good to know." Jake smirked before bending down to kiss her neck.

"Jake!" she squealed when she felt his lips on her skin.

"Yes?" he asked innocently.

"Don't do that here!" She pushed at his arms and managed to move back.

Jake pouted. "But you said it was okay."

"Jake Jagielski, you know I did not mean that much of it. Besides, we have an empty apartment waiting for us."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Jake helped Peyton into her seat, before running round to the driver's seat and speeding down the road.

* * *

She laughed. He couldn't believe it. She laughed!

Lucas had showed up at her house and they had gone to her room where he sat her down and said he had something to tell her; seven minutes later he finally spit it out. She stayed silent for a long moment – and then she laughed!

"Brooke, it's not funny!" Lucas said, crossing his arms and turning around.

Her only reply was to giggle harder. Lucas frowned; any minute now she'd be rolling on the floor.

"I think I'm going to go –"

"No, don't!" Brooke said, sitting up and grabbing his arm. When he looked at her she snorted.

Lucas stood up. "Brooke!"

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you," she said as she came to stand beside him. He gave her a look, forcing her to admit, "Okay, maybe I am, but not because you haven't had sex."

"Then what?"

"You took so long to tell me! And you made it sound so serious. It was like you were trying to tell me that you were the drug dealer! Or you had killed someone – or you're gay!"

"You and Nathan think you're real funny, don't you?"

"What does Nathan have to do with it?"

"Never mind."

"Look, Lucas," Brooke said as she led him back to the bed. "You just made it sound like such a big deal. It's nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Okay, maybe it's not nothing," Brooke conceded, "but it's only a very small thing. Actually, I think it's kind of cute."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. Oh – you're not like, waiting till marriage are you?" she asked.

"No, not marriage." Lucas shook his head. "It was just never the right time, I guess. I didn't want to sleep with just anyone."

Brooke nodded. "Sometimes I wish I had waited longer too," she admitted.

"You weren't 14 though, were you?"

"14!" Brooke exclaimed. "Add 2 to that. 14!" she repeated. "Ew! Gross! Who do you know that did it then?"

"Nathan," Lucas told her.

"Are you serious? 14! Jeez. Was the girl 14 too? Or was she a lot older than him?" she wondered and shuddered at the thought.

"I don't know; I didn't ask for details. Brooke, Nathan is my cousin. If you're freaked how do you think I feel?"

"14!" Brooke said again, ignoring Lucas' comment. "Couldn't he keep it in his pants? That's just sick!" Suddenly, she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"To eat something. I need to get this gross image of 14 year old Nathan out of my head."


	30. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

"I think I'd better go now," Lucas said after checking his watch.

Nathan looked at his too. "Lunch doesn't end for another twenty minutes. Where are you going?"

"Coach wanted me to meet him before next period," Lucas explained.

"See you at practice, Broody." Brooke kissed him goodbye.

Lucas grinned. "Bye, Cheery."

Nathan rolled his eyes.

"I saw you do that," Brooke said after Lucas walked away. "Oh, and, by the way, I heard some very interesting information about you last night."

Nathan looked up. "What information?"

"Lucas happened to mention that you were a mere 14 when you –"

"He told you that!" Nathan exclaimed before she had even finished her sentence. "What's wrong with him?"

"Excuse me, what's wrong with you?" Brooke countered. "14! Come on, Nathan."

Nathan shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

"It wasn't so long ago that people had different really ideals. You can't honestly tell me that everyone your age was doing it."

"You're not going to give me a lecture on this, are you?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, I guess not. But, really, what would Miss James say?"

"Brooke!"

"Come on! You want to date her, and if you do after everything is finished with then you guys will have to tell each other things, including past relationships. And she doesn't seem to me like someone who'd take Nike seriously at 14." Brooke managed to say it with a straight face before she giggled at her own joke. "Get it? Nike? Just do it! And you just did it!" she added when Nathan didn't look amused.

"I'm going now," he told her, and stood up.

"I'm only joking, Nate! You're not really leaving me to finish eating by myself, are you?"

"Well…I'll come back after I throw this stuff away," Nathan admitted, holding up his tray and showing her the cartons and packaging on it.

"Okay."

After Nathan found a trash can and threw the contents of his tray, placing the tray on top he headed back to the lunch table. Surprisingly, when he returned, Brooke wasn't alone. From where he was standing he could see a boy sitting next to Brooke, but he couldn't see his face. Nathan was even more surprised when he walked closer to them and saw that the guy, whoever he was, had put his arm around Brooke.

Brooke's cry of, "Stop it, Damien!" clued him in a bit.

When he and Brooke had gone to watch Lucas at basketball tryouts she had told Nathan the name of all the basketball players, which he had kept a mental note of, just in case. This was Damien West, captain of the Ravens basketball team and, according to Lucas, a downright pain in the ass.

"Don't fight it, baby –" was all Damien was able to say before Nathan had pulled him up off the seat by his collar. "What the hell?" He regained his footing quickly and turned around to stare at Nathan. "What's your problem dude?"

"My problem? I think you're the one with the problem. Or did you not hear her when she told you to stop."

"Okay, I don't know who the hell you are but this isn't your business –"

"Seeing as how Brooke's my friend, I think it is my business."

Damien shook his head. "You don't want to mess with me, man."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Are you threatening me?"

"Maybe I am."

Brooke quickly stood up and slung her bag on her shoulder. "Nathan, let's just go."

"Nathan?" Damien repeated. "You're Lucas' cousin, huh?"

"So what if I am?"

Damien took a step closer to Nathan. By this time they had started to attract a crowd, but Damien took no notice. "You know if you decide to mess with me, I could make things ugly for him on the team," he said in a low voice.

"Lucas isn't scared of you."

"He should be. So should you."

Nathan shrugged. "I'm not really afraid of pretty boys. I mean, what are you going to do? Dazzle me with your basketball skills?"

"You might want to take that back, Scott."

"No, I don't think I do."

Damien smirked. "Listen, you're still kind of new around here so I'll tell you this once. I get what I want. Always. So why don't you just stay out of my way." With that said he pushed Nathan backwards slightly, meaning to walk past him.

Brooke immediately cringed, anticipating Nathan's next move. She wasn't mistaken; he pushed Damien back instantly, only he was stronger than Damien and since he hadn't expected the move he fell back, nearly falling on top of Brooke who had been standing behind him. At the back of the crowd, somebody yelled, "Fight!" just as Damien stood back up and punched Nathan squarely on the jaw.

* * *

Haley glanced around the library again before she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Nathan was usually prompt, sometimes even early, but today he was getting on ten minutes late for their tutoring session. She knew he was in school since he had been at their normal lesson that morning so she was starting to wonder whether something had happened to him. As she began to mull over the possible situations, she heard someone come up from behind her.

"Sorry, I'm late," Nathan said, putting his bag on the floor and sitting down in the chair next to her.

Haley opened her mouth to say, "It's okay," but stopped when she looked up and saw Nathan's face. "Oh my God! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Haley wasn't sure she believed him. There were a few nasty looking cuts on his face, especially the one on his lip, and his left eye was turning a horrible blue-black shade. Haley suddenly noticed the bruising on his knuckles and realized what had happened. Before she left the faculty room she had heard some teachers talking about a fight between two senior students but she hadn't caught their names. "Nathan, were you in that fight at lunchtime?"

"Uh, yeah. But, it wasn't my fault!" he rushed to his own defense when he saw the disappointed look on Haley's face. "Damien started it."

"Nathan, you're not in kindergarten," Haley said, and she was starting to look annoyed. "The fault belongs to both of you."

"I didn't want to fight, Damien. I was only trying to get him to leave Brooke alone."

"What?"

"Damien was bugging Brooke and she told him to leave her alone but he didn't," Nathan explained, like as he had just done with Principal Durham. "So I told him to go away, but he got annoyed and it sort of escalated to a fight. He punched me first."

Haley smiled ruefully and shook her head. "That still sounds like you're in kindergarten," she told him, but she smiled at him as she did so.

"I don't really remember any of the boys doing what Damien did to Brooke in kindergarten."

Haley nodded. "Were you with Mr. Durham just now?"

"Yeah, that's why I was late. But we can start now –"

"No, we can't," Haley cut in, and she started to close her books too.

"But we haven't missed that much of the lesson. I'm sorry I'm late, I –"

"It's not that, Nathan. Have you even seen your face?"

Nathan shook his head.

"Well, it's really bad. You have to go to the nurse."

"It doesn't hurt that much –" he began.

"Well, it will later," Haley said and Nathan couldn't argue. The exact thing had happened when he had been involved in fights on the job. "Go on," Haley urged him when he didn't move. "Your health is more important than your education."

"But I don't even know where the nurse's room is," Nathan said, truthfully.

"Oh. Well once you get out of the library you go down the hall – straight first, but then take the second right. After that you take the first left and keep going to the left of that. Then –"

"There's more?"

Haley nodded her head. "I'm afraid so."

"Maybe I should write this down."

"You know what, why don't I just take you there?" she offered

Nathan began to smile, but stopped before it became too obvious. "You, uh, don't mind?"

Haley shook her head. "It's not as far as it sounds."

"Okay, then. Thanks."

Haley smiled as she gathered her books into her hands and stood up. Nathan followed suit, standing and putting his bag onto his back, but he winced when the heavy bag struck a particularly sensitive spot on his back. Haley noticed immediately and turned towards him. "Does your back hurt?"

"Just a little," he lied.

"But how did you hurt your back?" she wondered.

"Well, I sort of fell…only a cafeteria table broke my fall."

Haley's face looked pained and, instinctively, her hand came up to rest on his shoulder. "Is it really bad? Can you walk? Maybe you should sit down and I could ask her to come here –"

"No! I'm fine –"

"You are not fine, Nathan!"

"It's not that bad. Really," he added, when Haley looked skeptical.

"Okay. Well, if you're sure…"

Haley led the way out of the library with Nathan walking beside her. The first few moments passed in silence before Nathan said, simply out of the urge to say something, "I'm really sorry about this."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I thought it was equally mine and Damien's fault," Nathan reminded her.

"Well, I suppose…If he was really doing what you said he was –"

"He was."

"Then maybe it was a little more his fault," Haley conceded.

"Only a little?" Nathan asked.

"Your knuckles look just as bad as your face so I'm sure you fought back just as hard."

"I was defending myself," he stated.

"I thought you were defending Brooke's honour."

Nathan chuckled, before he winced momentarily in pain.

Haley stopped walking and turned towards him. "Is it really bad?" she asked, and her hand came up to cup his cheek.

Nathan had been about to say, "No," but the feel of Haley's hand tenderly touching his skin stunned him speechless.

Taking his silence to confirm her suspicion, she let her hand drop. "It's a good thing the nurse's office is just over here. Mr. Durham should have sent you straight there."

Pouting as slightly as his facial muscles allowed him to without hurting; Nathan followed her to the nurse's room opposite. However, he smiled slightly when he felt Haley's hand close over his as she led him down the hall.


	31. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Haley stood silently by the door of the nurse's office while Nathan sat on the bed and Mrs. Chambers wandered around the room, looking through her supplies. Her arms were folded and, as she often did when she needed something to do, one of her hands was playing with the pendant of her necklace. She had done what she said she was going to do; she had brought Nathan to the nurse, so what was she going to do now? What if he thought it was weird she was still there, but didn't say anything to be polite? Why was she still there? Haley wondered, biting her lip as she did.

Glancing at Nathan, who was trying to get comfortable, leaning back against the wall, she noted his numerous bruises and knew that she wanted to make sure he was fine, but that didn't reduce the awkwardness of her being there, which she knew wasn't just in her head. Nathan wasn't a kid; he wouldn't want her hovering around in there like she was his mum or something.

"I guess I'll go then," Haley said.

Nathan looked at her, and for a second Haley thought that maybe he didn't want her to go. She didn't have the time to decide whether or not it was just wishful thinking because Mrs. Chambers chimed in, "Actually, Haley, dear could you stay a few minutes if you're not busy? My assistant is off sick today and after attending to Mr. West earlier I now don't have enough for Mr. Scott here."

"Do you want me to get something for you?"

"No, it's alright. You won't know where it is. But, if you don't mind staying with Mr. Scott?"

"No, I don't mind. I have a free period," Haley added.

Mrs. Chambers nodded. "Alright, then. Here," she held up an ice pack and placed it carefully on Nathan's black eye. He winced but held it in place as she let go. "Now you keep holding that while I go get something for your cuts."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Chambers maneuvered herself around the bed and said quietly to Haley, "I won't be long I'm just asking you to stay 'cause I'd like someone to keep an eye on him."

"Is it serious?" she whispered back.

The older lady looked amused. "No, no. It's just typical scratches and cuts from a fist fight. I just want someone here with him while I'm out because the other boy tried to leave when he thought I wasn't looking so he could cut school."

"Oh."

Mrs. Chambers smiled and then said in a loud, cheerful voice, "Back in a flash," before going out the door.

Because of the ice pack on his left eye Nathan had to turn his body around fully to look at Haley with his right one, but when he did she saw he was smiling. "You know," he told her, "I could hear you two."

Haley grinned back. "I had a feeling you might be able to. This room isn't exactly small."

"What a bummer. I was planning to jump out that window the minute she was gone."

Haley giggled. "I'm sure."

Nathan leaned back with a small groan. "Home sure does sound good right now though. Not like I'd have the strength to get there anyway." As he tried to relax the ice pack started to slip from his grip.

Haley was immediately by his side to pick it up. She carefully placed it over his eye once more and held it steadily. "There you go. No wonder it's slipping, the ice is melting. Really fast too," Haley observed. "Do you see a cloth or something around?"

"Uh…" Nathan took his right eye off Haley for a moment to scan the room. "There's one over there by the sink."

Haley looked over her shoulder and spotted it. "Okay, can you hold this a second?" When Nathan nodded and put his hand over hers, she let go of the ice pack and went to the other end of the room. She took the small hand towel that was on the rack and brought it back over to Nathan. Taking the ice pack off his face she wrapped the towel around it before replacing it on his eye.

Nathan looked up at her with one eye and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." Haley met his gaze briefly, then she returned to fussing about the ice pack.

Nathan didn't mind that she wasn't talking – he didn't have any idea of what he would say either – and he liked that she was fussing over him. It gave more fuel to his daydreams where she was secretly pining over him and, thinking that he was five years her junior as well as her student, was showing her affection the only way she thought possible. And, out there in the hall she had held his hand. He didn't think she had even realized she had done so at first, then the moment they reached the door she had dropped it suddenly, looking embarrassed.

Nathan opened his eyes when he heard a noise and found Mrs. Chambers had entered and was looking at them. Haley was now standing further away from him than before, but one hand was still holding onto the ice pack.

"The ice was melting and it slipped so I wrapped it in this," she explained in a rush.

"That's fine. Thank you very much, Haley." Mrs. Chambers took hold of the ice pack and Haley let go. "Haley, if you're not busy would you mind helping me?"

"No, I don't mind. What do you need me to do?"

A lot of things, it turned out. Mrs. Chambers was the one who cleaned and bandaged Nathan's cuts, but she needed someone to hand her things or hold them most of the time. As they worked Mrs. Chambers explained that it had taken her ages doing it for Damien by herself which was why she wanted Haley there, but Nathan was more than glad that the assistant had taken the day off, except for the few times he had cried out when the medicine had stung him. But, Haley hadn't noticed that. At least, she hadn't seemed to.

When Mrs. Chambers was finally done she took a piece of paper out of a drawer and scribbled something down on it. She gave it to Nathan who took it with his right hand, while his left held onto the ice pack. He read it over quickly, and looked at her confused. "Is this a gate pass?"

"Yes, it is. I'm sending you home. You can come back to school tomorrow."

"B-but…did you send Damien home?"

"No."

Nathan knew that Damien had been worse off than him; he was far stronger than that boy. However, he held back the urge to say he had beaten up Damien worse since Haley was there. "I don't need to go home."

"Really? Get down from the bed by yourself."

"Uh…Alright then." Nathan braced himself on one hand and tried to slowly slide down from the bed, but didn't manage. He put the ice pack down and used both hands; this time he started to slide, but when his back hit the bed he winced.

Haley quickly moved to help him stand and since the nurse already knew he couldn't manage it on his own, Nathan let her.

"Nathan, your cuts are not really that bad. It's your back I'm worried about. For some reason Damien didn't have the same problem that you do."

"I just fell on the cafeteria table."

Mrs. Chambers sighed. "There is nothing 'just' about falling backwards onto a table. Go home and get some rest or there's no way you can make it tomorrow."

Nathan grudgingly agreed and trudged out the door, carrying his bag in his hand rather than putting it on his back.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked, as she followed him out into the hall.

Nathan nodded. "Better."

"I guess you'll be going home now then."

"I guess. Oh, wait, I can't," Nathan suddenly remembered.

"Why not?"

"Lucas has basketball practice after school and he needs the car."

"Well, how were you going to get home?" Haley wondered.

"I was going to walk; it's not that far. I suppose I'll have to call a cab. Or I might just wait a bit and see if I feel up to walking."

"Or…I could take you?" Haley offered.

"What?"

"Well…if it's not that far, I could take you. I have the car and there's still another half an hour of my free period left."

Nathan studied her. "Are you sure? You don't mind?"

"You took me home once," Haley reminded him. "Of course, if you think it's weird –"

"No, I don't think it's weird," Nathan cut in.

"Okay, then. I guess I'm taking you home."

Nathan nodded. "I guess so."

"Well, then…shall we?"


	32. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

After he gave directions, Nathan and Haley drove to Lucas' house in relative silence. Nathan noticed that it had become sort of a pattern with them; at one point they were enjoying a nice long conversation, at others neither could find anything to say. Trying to think of something to start a conversation with, Nathan recalled the time he had driven her home from the hospital when Brooke had been drugged. A smile came to his face when he remembered that weird 'Holiday' song.

"What is it?"

"Huh?" Nathan looked over at Haley.

"You were smiling," Haley informed him.

"Oh, I was just remembering…um, do you remember that song my Uncle had in his car when I dropped you home?"

Haley grinned as the memory came back to her. "Oh my gosh, yes! That was so funny."

"Is it safe to turn the radio on here?" Nathan gestured to the power button.

"It's fine. Peyton would never allow anything like that in her car. Miss Sawyer, I mean," Haley added.

"It's her car?" Nathan asked. "She doesn't mind?"

"Well, technically it is her car, but we share it. And she doesn't need it now, she's got lessons, and then after school we have the play."

"How's the play coming?"

"It's good so far. Rehearsals started recently, but it's coming along," Haley said. "I think you said you signed up for backstage, didn't you? Nathan?" Haley added when he didn't reply. Since they had stopped for the red light she took her eyes off the road and looked to her right. Nathan seemed to be looking at something on the pavement. "Nathan?"

This time he jerked his head back around. "Yeah?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course," he said quickly.

Haley looked over at the area he had been staring at and spotted a familiar face turning the corner. "Isn't that Lucas' mom?"

"You know her?"

"Parent's day," Haley said simply.

Nathan nodded and leaned back in his seat, looking uncomfortable.

"Nathan is something wrong?" Haley asked.

"No."

"You just seem a little fazed…were you afraid that she would see you here?" Haley guessed, not sure that she wanted his answer.

"No, that's not it," Nathan replied.

"Then what is it?"

Nathan shrugged slightly. "My back just hurts," he said finally.

Haley kept looking at him, uncertain if she should believe him, but then the light turned green and she drove the last few blocks to their destination; the silence creeping upon them once more.

* * *

That evening, as Lucas was changing after his shower, he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He quickly put his shirt on before shouting, "Come in!" 

Nathan did so, and closed the door silently. "Hey. You going out?"

"Yeah, I'm going to Brooke's. How're you feeling?" Lucas inquired.

"I'm fine."

"Listen, I couldn't thank you properly for beating the crap out of Damien at school, so thanks."

Nathan smiled. "My pleasure; but, you should keep an eye out. He threatened to take it out on you too."

Lucas shrugged. "I'm not scared of him."

"Good."

"So," Lucas began, as he picked up his jacket and put his cell phone in his pocket, "I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"Actually, there was something I have to tell you."

"So you have more secrets than the fact that you're a 25 year old masquerading as a 19 year old so you can catch a high school drug dealer?" Lucas joked.

"Luke, this is serious," Nathan said, and from his tone Lucas could tell that it was. "Maybe you should sit down."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Look, I wasn't sure whether or not to tell you this, but I thought about it and I decided that if the situation was reversed then I'd want you to tell me and that's why I'm telling you, okay?"

Lucas nodded, then froze. "You have feelings for Brooke."

"What?"

"You have feelings for Brooke! Unbelievable! She's 8 years younger than you, Nathan. And, you were the one who always told me to tell her how I –"

"I don't have feelings for Brooke!" Nathan interrupted.

"You don't?"

He shook his head. "No. No, this is something else."

"Oh. Sorry. Well, what is it?"

Nathan took a deep breath before he began. "Today when I came home early from school…I saw something."

"What did you see?"

"Your mom."

"Okay, well, what's wrong with that? She was probably on her lunch break."

"Probably, but that's not the thing. She was with this man…and they looked kind of…"

Lucas stood up, offended. "Hey! He was probably one of her friends -"

"I saw them kiss, Lucas."

* * *

Brooke fluttered about her bedroom, lighting the candles she had bought on impulse a few days ago. She wasn't sure how Lucas would react to her plans for tonight, but she was hoping it would be good. 

The doorbell rang just as she was lighting the last one. Lucas was late for a change, but luckily it had worked out well. She quickly put the lighter into her cupboard drawer and tied her fluffy pink robe around her tighter, before going down the stairs.

She opened the door with a bright smile on her face, but it faltered the moment she saw him. "Lucas, are you okay?"

He shook his head slightly. "Sorry, I'm late. I should have called."

"That's okay. Come in," she said, as she ushered him inside. He trudged inside the house, but just stood there in the entrance, making no move to say or do anything, the same distraught look on his face. Brooke moved to stand beside him after she closed the front door. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I…Well…Today…" Lucas sighed and raked a hand through his messy hair.

"Come sit," Brooke led him to the sofa and sat him down, before sitting next to him, curled up against his side. "What happened?"

"My parents are getting divorced."

"What? Oh my God, Lucas, I'm so sorry." She hugged him from the side and Lucas put his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Thanks."

"Well, what happened – I mean, how…"

"Nathan saw my Mom with another man."

"When?" Brooke asked, even more shocked.

"This morning, on his way home from school."

"Oh my God. Oh, but then your Dad…" Brooke trailed off again. Lucas' Mom had always been nice to her, but it was his Dad that she had really liked. Keith was a really nice guy.

"My Dad knew."

Now, she was confused. "Huh?"

"Apparently, my parents decided a while ago that they didn't love each other, but they didn't get divorced because…"

"Because?" Brooke prodded.

"Because of me. They didn't want to hurt me so they decided to separate without telling anyone, but still live together until I left home." Lucas remained silent for a while, so Brooke didn't say anything either, wanting to give him some space. "I just, I can't believe they pretended like that you know? And it's my fault that they had to."

"Lucas, it's not your fault!"

"Brooke they specifically said that they stayed together for me. It was my fault that they were unhappy all that time."

"Lucas, it is not your fault," Brooke said certainly. "They did what they did because they loved you. I would give anything to have parents who loved me that much."

"I guess…but I wish they hadn't hid it from me for so long."

"So, you really had no idea that they were having problems?"

"Well…they started sleeping in separate bedrooms a while ago."

"And you thought that was okay?" Brooke said incredulously.

"Well! They never said anything about it. And I didn't want to think of them like that so I didn't…" Lucas sighed and leaned back as Brooke ran her fingers through his hair.

"My Mom is moving in with her boyfriend."

"Her boyfriend?"

"The guy Nathan saw her with. Andy something or other. She wants me to meet him this weekend."

"And are you going to?" Brooke asked.

"I'll think about it," Lucas said after a moment.

"You know, if you want to be alone right now, I don't mind. You can come over another time."

"No, no. I'd rather be here…with you."

Brooke smiled and kissed him. "Then stay as long as you like."

Lucas grinned. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. So, what do you want to do?"

"Um…can we just go up to your room and watch a movie like we were going to?" Lucas suggested.

"You want to watch a movie?"

"It'll take my mind off things. You pick."

"Okay, I will." They both stood up as Brooke took Lucas by the hand and led him to the stairs. "Now, this is a perfect opportunity to make you watch a chick flick. However will I choose?"

Lucas chuckled. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Brooke smiled as she went up the steps, but then stopped suddenly, mid-step.

"What is it Brooke?"

"Uh…nothing. I just…my room is a mess. Do you mind waiting while I clean it up? You came before I finished."

"But I came late."

"But I still hadn't finished. Do you mind?" she repeated, looking at him pleadingly.

"I don't mind mess, Brooke –"

Brooke took Lucas up the rest stairs and directed him towards the bathroom. "Why don't you just go to that bathroom and give me 5 minutes to clean up?"

"Why can't I wait in your bathroom?"

"Because to get to my bathroom you have to go to my room and you can't go to my room yet because –"

"It's messy," Lucas finished for her.

"Exactly. So come out in 5 minutes, alright? Thanks, Broody." Leaving him there, Brooke ran to her room and quickly started blowing out the candles before shoving them inside her cupboard.

When Lucas entered he was just in time to see Brooke blowing out the last row of candles that lined the back of the headboard. "Are those candles?"

Brooke dropped the candles she was carrying on the bed. "Lucas! I said 5 minutes."

"It's been five minutes. What's going on?" As he said it, he realized for the first time since he got there that all Brooke was wearing was a robe. "Oh."

Brooke smirked before returning to packing up the candles.

"I'm so-"

"It's okay. It's not your fault," Brooke told him as she put the rest of them in the cupboard. "Some other time."

"Yeah," Lucas smiled. "Some other time."

"So, you get comfortable on the bed while I go change." Lucas nodded and flopped down on the bed as Brooke went inside the bathroom. One second later she came out, hands on her hips. "If this whole thing with your parents hadn't happened and I had tried to seduce you as planned, would it have worked?"

Lucas flushed slightly at the word, "seduce," but then grinned at her. "Depends."

Brooke pouted. "On what?"

"What are you wearing underneath that robe?"

Brooke smirked at him. "That is for me to know…"

"And me to find out?"

"Maybe some other time. I said maybe!" she added, when Lucas started to smirk, before returning to the bathroom to change.

**A/N: Before I say anything else I have to thank you all for the reviews! 530! Whoa. You guys are awesome; thanks so much.:) Also, I know a lot of you were expecting more Naley, and that turned out to be actually more of a Brucas chapter, but I promise there is more Naley in the next chapter and some things that you have been waiting for are coming up very soon! Now I'm going to shamelessly plug myself: I've started a new Naley story! It's called Rescued and I hope any Naley fans will check it out!**


	33. Chapter 31

**A/N: **From the reviews for the last chapter, I realized that a lot of readers thought Karen was Lucas' mother, which is understandable since she is on the show. However, in this Deb and Keith are Lucas' parents, while Karen and Dan are Nathan's; I just wanted to remind everybody. :)

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Deborah Scott wasted no time moving out of her soon to be ex-husband's house and into her boyfriend's apartment, and was gone by the time Nathan and Lucas got home from school the next day. As a result, Lucas was in a foul mood when he and Nathan went to school the day after that.

They had left home early since Lucas had morning basketball practice and just when they were out the door, Nathan's Mom showed up. Deb had invited her to come over when Nathan had arrived but up until now Karen hadn't been able to leave her café. Unfortunately, both Deb and Nathan had forgotten to call her and tell her about the change in situation, but Keith told her to stay anyway.

"So…" Nathan looked over at Lucas who was driving, "have you spoken to your Mom?"

"She called last night. Don't think she knows about your Mom showing up yet though."

"Mom will call her," Nathan said. "That was strange timing, huh?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah."

Nathan studied Lucas' expression before asking, "You're not upset about her coming, are you?"

"No, no. It's cool. Plus, now Dad will have someone to talk to. I'm just thinking…"

Nathan decided to leave the subject at that and returned to gazing out the window.

When they arrived at school, Lucas headed straight for the boy's locker room, while Nathan leisurely made his way to the library. As he was walking down the corridor, the door to the faculty lounge opened and Nathan, unable to stop himself in time, accidentally collided with the person coming out.

He hadn't been able see their face since they had been carrying two large boxes with some posters on top, but when they crashed into one another, the boxes came tumbling down and revealed their identity.

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed.

"H-Miss James. Hi – I mean, I'm sorry; I didn't see you there."

"That's okay." Haley bent down to pick up the boxes, and Nathan followed suit.

"Let me help you."

"No, you don't have to do that."

"It's fine." Before Haley could object Nathan had taken both boxes in his arms and was carrying them effortlessly. "Where are you taking them to?"

"The auditorium; I'll take them there," Haley said, as she transferred the posters to one hand and then tried to take the boxes from him.

"I can carry it for you."

"You don't have to do that," Haley repeated.

"I don't mind."

Haley realized he wasn't going to give them to her and so, with a sigh started walking to the auditorium.

"How's your back?"

"It's a lot better," Nathan replied. "So…this stuff is for the play?"

Haley nodded as she folded her arms. "They're the props."

"And is that the poster for the play?" Nathan wondered.

"Um…it's a prototype."

"Can I see?"

"Not yet."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Not yet?"

"Well, it's not ready yet. This is just an example; it's not necessarily what the poster is going to look like."

"So you're going to show it to some people first, get their opinions?"

"Exactly."

"So show it to me and I'll give you my opinion."

"Uh…Okay, fine." Haley gave up and showed him the poster. When he was silent for a moment, she became nervous. "Well, what do you think?"

"It's good."

Haley grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah. The art is really cool."

"Miss Sawyer did that. So, you really think it's a good poster?" Haley asked.

"I would definitely look at it twice."

"Good." Haley let out a breath, and smiled at him apologetically. "I know it seems weird to be obsessing about a poster, but I just want everything to be perfect."

Nathan smiled back. "Well, it's your directorial debut; nerves are understandable."

"True. Wait, how do you know it's my debut?"

"You told me."

"I did? When?" Haley wondered.

"A while ago; at one of our tutoring sessions."

"Oh, right. Hey, we're here." Haley gestured to the auditorium entrance in front of them. She held the door for Nathan so he could bring the boxes in.

"Where do you want these?"

"Just put them down over there. Thank you for bringing them."

"No problem. I'm happy to help. So…I guess I'll see you in class," Nathan said as he started turning around to go back out.

"Hey, do you like plays?" Haley asked suddenly.

"Well…not that much, but sometimes they're okay."

"Oh. Well, even better. Sometimes when we're rehearsing I've got some of the staff to come watch and say what they think, but I haven't gotten feedback from any of the students."

"You want my feedback?"

Haley nodded. "And, since you don't usually like plays, then you can be more critical of it. That is, if you're not busy…"

"No, I'm not busy."

"So, you'll watch?"

"Sure."

"Great. Sit over here," Haley pointed to the seat that was next to where her handbag was, "and once the scenes are over just tell me what you think of everything in general. And feel free to say what you didn't like too."

"Okay."

"We'll start in a few minutes. I just have to go on stage and talk to some of the actors."

Nathan nodded and moved to sit down before he stopped suddenly. "Is Brooke here?"

"Brooke?" Haley thought for a minute then shook her head. "No, she's not in the two scenes we're doing this morning." When she noticed that Nathan looked somewhat relieved by her answer she asked, "Why don't you want to watch if Brooke is here?"

"Oh…I…Brooke wouldn't want me watching her rehearse. She, uh, doesn't like to see people she knows in the audience before she's fully prepared."

Accepting his answer, Haley nodded and headed towards the stage while Nathan took his seat in the audience.

Once Lucas had taken his after-practice shower he headed to his locker, which, owing to their surnames, was opposite Damien West's locker. As he walked past him, Lucas noticed Damien hastily shoving something back into his locker. Lucas shot him a wondering look, which Damien replied with a, "What are you looking at?"

Lucas shrugged. Damien looked like he was about to say more when Skills came in from the showers too. Skills had turned out to be one of the few guys on the team that Lucas actually got on with, and Lucas had liked him even more after he discovered that he was the only other team member who didn't suck up to Damien.

Skills nodded at them both as he opened his locker. "Hey. Trying to get yourself beat up again, Damien?"

Lucas laughed, observing that Damien's face was much worse for wear than Nathan's, who had pretty much healed by now. Damien, on the other hand, still had a few cuts and showed the remnants of a black eye.

Damien glared at them both but slung his bag over his shoulder and left the locker room without saying anything. His posse had already gone, and he wasn't quite so cocky when he knew he was out-numbered.

"West hitting on your girl again?"

Lucas shook his head. "Nah. He just thought I was looking at him or his locker or something."

"I would tell that guy to take a chill pill if I didn't think he was already wired up on drugs."

Lucas had been reaching into his locker for his t-shirt, but stopped the moment he heard Skills say the word "drugs". He tried to keep his tone light when he asked, "You think Damien is taking drugs?"

Skills shrugged. "I was joking, dude."

"No, I know. I was just wondering if you had ever thought he was taking them for real."

"Honestly? There was this one time when I thought I saw him doing something that looked kind of weird by his locker, like he was taking something before he drank his water, you know? But it was just that one time and I didn't really see anything, and who knows, maybe he was sick and taking medicine."

"Right…so he might not have been or he might have; we'll just never know."

"That's for sure," Skills said certainly in a way that made Lucas think twice.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I like to think of Damien as an idiot, and for most of the time he is. But, when he feels like it, he can be much less of an idiot."

Lucas' frowned. "I don't think I get what you're saying."

"Well, when Vegas got caught you knew for sure that that was his first time messing with drugs. Vegas is the kind of guy who'd do stupid things and be stupid enough to get caught doing them, so there's no way he could have been taking drugs for long. Now, Damien…well, he does a lot of stupid things too, but he does them the smart way you know?"

"He wouldn't get caught," Lucas stated.

"Exactly. The guy knows how to cover his tracks. Something to keep in mind in case you fall onto his bad side, which you just have done," Skills warned, leaving Lucas with a lot to think about, and tell Nathan, when he made his way to homeroom.


	34. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

Nathan frowned as he sat in the Tree Hill police station, considering Jake's plan. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Look, the coach is strict. You get late for two practices in one semester and you're off the squad."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "That is strict."

"Well, he's been a lot tougher on them after Vegas was caught doing drugs," Jake explained.

"Right."

"So, just wait a couple minutes after practice starts, get in there and see what you can find and get out real quick. It shouldn't take you five minutes."

Nathan nodded. "Okay."

"Okay, then. We've been over everything."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then, I'm going home. It's late and I still have a couple more papers to mark before tomorrow. Man, I want this plan to work."

Nathan chuckled, silently agreeing. As his friend turned to leave he called out, "Er, Jake?"

"Yeah, Nate?"

"I kind of need the key for this to work."

"Right! Sorry." Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. He checked that it was the right one before he threw it over to Nathan. "See you later."

"See you."

Jake left the room he and Nathan used when they came here, and waved goodbye to the people he remembered on his way out. As he walked through the waiting room to get to the main doors he came to a sudden halt. He felt his eyes widen as he stared at the person sitting on a chair to the right of him; the last person he expected to see in a police station. He half wanted to ask them what they were doing there, but, unable to come up with a viable excuse for his presence, he knew it would be better if he slipped out unnoticed. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side.

"Jake!"

Jake forced a smile as he went over to her. "Haley! This is a surprise."

"Yeah," she said as she stood up.

"What are you doing here?"

"My sister was arrested for drunk driving – again." She pointed to the door on the other side. "I'm just waiting for them to release her. What are you doing here?"

"Well, uh…research!" Jake blurted out the first word that came to his mind.

Haley's brow furrowed. "Research? At a police station?"

"Well –"

"Hey, Jake, I thought you'd already lef…" Nathan's sentence trailed off as he saw who Jake was talking to. "Hi."

"Nathan?" Haley stared at him, shocked. Haley continued to stare at both of them, as Jake and Nathan glanced at each other, uncertain how they should proceed.

Just then, the gate to the side of them opened and a tall brunette emerged from the other side, accompanied by a police officer. The police officer glanced at Haley, who nodded, before he smiled at her companions.

"Hey, Jake; Nathan," he acknowledged.

Nathan smiled weakly. "Hi, Fergie."

The brunette girl, unaware of the situation ran to Haley and hugged her. "Thanks, baby sis. I knew you'd come for me!" She stepped back from Haley and turned around. Smiling approvingly at Jake, she said, "Hi handsome." She looked to his right and the corners of her lips turned upward in a smirk.

Nathan swallowed hard. "Taylor."

Taylor grinned. "Nathan. Fancy meeting you here."

"What the hell is going on here?" Haley exclaimed loudly.

Taylor glanced back at her. "Jeez, sis, chill."

"Nathan and I work here," Jake said, bluntly.

"We're undercover at school," Nathan admitted.

"B-but…" Haley sighed and shook her head, trying to compose herself. "Undercover for what?"

"Someone at school's a drug dealer. We were sent to find out who it is," Jake explained.

Haley looked blank for a while, glancing at both Jake and Nathan. Then, she finally said, "We have to leave." Nathan opened his mouth to say something else, but Haley just grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled her out to the doors.

Jake and Nathan stared after them silently for a few moments.

Nathan took a deep breath. "Well."

"I actually have a question of my own."

"Shoot."

"How do you know Haley's sister?"

"Remember how I told you that last summer I ran into the first girl I had sex with?"

"Huh. We're both screwed."

"No shit, Sherlock."


	35. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

Peyton looked up from her magazine when she heard her apartment door open and slam shut. She cast an amused glance at Haley who had just walked in. "So, I'm guessing things didn't go well at the station."

Haley laughed bitterly. "That's one way of putting it."

"What happened? I mean, they let Taylor out, didn't they? They didn't make her stay -"

"No, they released her, but she has to go to this – oh, never mind." Haley brushed it aside with a wave of her hand. "That's not the thing."

Peyton eyed her curiously. "Well, what is it?"

Haley slumped down on the couch and sighed. She stared at her lap as she said, "Peyton…Jake isn't who he said he is."

"What, is he, like, an alien? Or maybe he's an axe murderer?" Peyton joked. When Haley didn't appear amused she grew more serious. "Haley, what is it? Okay, you're starting to scare me now, Hales," she added when her friend didn't reply.

"Actually, he's more like someone who would arrest an axe murderer."

"Huh?"

------

Brooke carefully balanced on her new high heels as she walked up the steps leading to the front door of Lucas' house. Lucas had been planning to come over to her house, as he had every night since he learnt of his parent's divorce, but that afternoon Keith had informed him he wanted to have a family dinner, with Lucas, Nathan and Karen together. When Lucas protested, Keith had suggested he invite Brooke to dinner as well, which was why she was teetering up the porch to Lucas' home.

Lucas opened the door, a few seconds after she rang the bell, which led Brooke to believe he had been waiting for her to come. "Hey."

Brooke managed a quick "Hi!" before she pushed past him and ran to sit on the couch in the nearby living room.

"Are you okay?" he wondered.

"My feet are killing me! I forgot the golden rule."

Lucas' brow furrowed as he sat down next to her on the couch. "What rule?"

"Always break in new shoes before wearing them out," Brooke explained while she tried to loosen the strap around her ankle. "Is it okay if I just take them off?"

"Er, you don't need my permission to take your shoes off, Brooke."

"But I'm in your house. Your Dad won't mind?"

Lucas shrugged. "My Mom was the only one who would think about things like that."

"Oh, thank God." Brooke pulled both shoes of her feet, and sighed with relief once she could move her toes.

"Feel better?"

Brooke smiled at him. "Much. Hey," she added, "did I say hello properly to you?"

"I don't think so."

Brooke leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Hi."

Lucas grinned. "Hey."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Brooke spotted a woman she'd never seen coming into the living room

"Lucas, was that Nathan? Oh, hello," she said, when she saw Brooke.

"Oh, Aunt Karen, this is my girlfriend, Brooke. Brooke, this is Nathan's Mom."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you," Brooke said.

Karen nodded. "You too. Lucas, did Nathan say what time he was coming back from – er, the supermarket?" she said suddenly.

Brooke looked at Lucas strangely. "Nathan went to the supermarket?"

"It's okay, Aunt Karen; Brooke knows about the case."

"She does?"

Brooke nodded. "I came over one day and overheard Nathan and Lucas discussing it."

"Oh, right. Well -"

Karen was interrupted, when the door burst open and a sour faced Nathan entered, slamming the door behind him.

Brooke gave Lucas a look. "That doesn't sound good."

"Nathan, is everything okay?" Karen asked, concerned.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." As he was taking off his coat, Keith called Lucas into the kitchen to help him and Karen, venturing a glance back at her son, went with him.

Brooke stood up and ventured over to where Nathan was standing. "Trouble with the case?"

"Sort of."

"I'm sure you and Jake will manage to work it out," Brooke said cheerfully. "Are you coming to the kitchen too?"

"Er, yeah, okay."

Brooke took a step forward to follow the others, but then Nathan stopped her.

"Brooke, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Uh…if you had a sister and you found out that Lucas had slept with her, what would you do?"

Brooke stared at him, puzzled for a moment. "Wh-W…Don't you know? I mean, I thought he told you."

"Told me what?"

Brooke looked over her shoulder and then tip-toed closer to Nathan, before whispering in his ear, "Lucas is a virgin."

Nathan groaned. "I know that! I mean, hypothetically! You don't even have a sister, Brooke!"

"Okay, sorry. Why are you asking?"

"I'm just asking –"

"Whose sister did you sleep with?" Brooke wondered.

Nathan shook his head. "No one's. Just forget it, Br-"

"Oh my god!" Brooke clapped her hands over her mouth. "Miss James!"

"Ssh!"

"Sorry, sorry," she whispered. "You slept with Miss James' sister?"

"Not exactly."

"There's no half way, buddy. Either you did or you didn't."

"I didn't know she was her sister, then."

"That doesn't matter. Oh my God. Does Miss James know? What's she going to think about it, especially since she thinks you're 19?" When Nathan paused at Brooke's comment, realization dawned on her. "Oh my God! She knows you're not 19! You are so screwed."

"I wish people would stop saying that."

-------

"Peyton! Peyton, open the door! Peyton!"

Suddenly, the door whipped open and the person in question stood in front of it, a harsh look on her face. "You're going to wake up my neighbours. How did you get into the building, anyway?"

"One of the clean up staff was leaving," Jake told her.

Peyton folded her arms and made a 'humph' sound. "Well, I'll be sure to complain about the security here."

"Peyton, will you just talk to me?"

"No. I want you to leave."

"Just let me explain!"

"You've had nearly two months to explain, Jake! And I never would have found out if Haley's sister hadn't been stupid enough to drink and drive! You're supposed to be my boyfriend and it turns out that I didn't even know what you did for a living! Do you know what that feels like?"

"No, I don't, and I'm really sorry you had to find out like this, but I was going to tell you –"

"When? Next year?"

"As soon as we solved the case," Jake told her.

"Which could be next year!"

"It was never going to take as long as that –"

"Well, you've been in school for a while now; how long can it take to find a stupid drug dealer!"

"Peyton, I wanted to tell you, but this is my job –"

"I know that, Jake! I've been thinking about it since Haley told me, and I've tried to be understanding about it since it's your job. And if you were just someone who worked with me at school, then when I found out it would still be weird, but it would be okay. But, the moment you and I started dating, things changed! If the only reason you came to Tree Hill was to do your job, then you shouldn't have gone out with me in the first place!"

"Maybe that's true, but I didn't even know if anything was going to come of our relationship. And then, by the time I realized I was in love with you, I didn't know how to tell you."

"You what?" Peyton asked, her voice softer than before.

"I didn't know how to tell you about it!"

"No, before that. You said you were in love with me."

"Oh. That. Well, I am," Jake admitted.

"I…I don't believe you," Peyton said finally.

"You what?" Jake exclaimed.

"Why should I believe you? All you've done is lie to me anyway."

"I may have lied about what I do, but that's it. I -"

"You said you've been teaching for years!" Peyton cut him off. "That's a lie too –"

"I only lied where my work was concerned, never about us or my feelings for you."

Peyton didn't say anything; she avoided looking Jake in the eye by staring at the side of the door as she tried to compose her thoughts.

"You still don't believe me?" Jake asked her.

Peyton sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what to believe, Jake."

She expected him to get angry and start shouting again; or even at least try to defend himself. Instead, he turned on his heel and left, just like she had told him to. As she shakily closed the door behind him, she realized that his silence only made her feel worse.


	36. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

It was the morning after Nathan and Jake had been caught at the police station. Lucas and Nathan had arrived at school, and the day passed just like the day before, but both knew things were very different. After dinner had finished Nathan had told Lucas what had happened at the station, although he had left out the significant details of his feelings for Miss James, and his relationship with her sister Taylor. Still, both had thought that she would have told Miss Sawyer, a suspicion confirmed by Jake's late night phone call, which meant that two staff members knew about them.

During lunch break Jake had text messaged Nathan and told him he had spoken to Whitey and neither Haley nor Peyton had said anything to him, which removed one worry for the time being. However, Nathan's other worry only grew more as he walked towards his English Lit class that afternoon. Both Lucas and Brooke were with him and noticed his discomfort; of course Brooke understood it better than her boyfriend, so neither said anything.

Nathan wasn't sure what to expect when he went inside his class. Haley was standing at the front of the room, writing something on the board, and about half the class was already there. She turned around and saw the three of them enter. Nathan tried to prepare himself for anything; hostility, coldness. She surprised him by smiling – not with anything like warmth in her eyes, but it wasn't harsh either. Then, she picked up a stack of papers from the desk and handed one to each of them as she briefly explained the day's assignment.

The rest of the class continued in the same vein, with Haley going about the lesson as usual, not appearing to have a care in the world. Her nonchalant attitude unnerved Nathan more than anything else she could have thrown at him, even to the point where he struggled to make it through the lesson with a straight face.

When the bell finally rang to signal the end of class Nathan didn't get up immediately as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. Observing Nathan's reluctance to leave just yet Brooke took Lucas outside and down the hall before he could mention that they should wait for Nathan.

Nathan packed his bag slowly and waited for everyone else to leave before he tentatively approached the front desk. He slung his bag over his shoulder as he watched her pack up her things, her back turned to him.

"Er…" Nathan began and then paused, wondering if he should still call her Miss James or whether he could finally call her Haley.

Hearing the noise, Haley glanced over her shoulder, but only looked at him for a second before returning to her books. "I thought you left with everyone else."

"No, I…I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well…you know."

"I didn't think there was anything to talk about." Haley picked up her books and turned to face him.

"You-you don't?" Nathan asked, incredulously.

Haley shrugged her shoulders slightly and kept her tone light. "No."

"B-but…last night…at the station. I mean, you got what we said, right?"

"Of course I did. But, you're just doing your job like I'm doing mine."

"So, that's just it…That's all you have to say?"

Haley raised an eyebrow at him and her expression turned sour. "What; did you want me to be mad at you or something?"

"No, of course not."

"Then, what were you expecting!"

"I-I don't know. I just wanted you to care!" Nathan said finally and stormed out of the classroom.

"Can I sit here?"

Haley looked up from where she was trying to mark papers in the faculty lounge and saw her ex-boyfriend leaning over the table and peering at her. Despite their not altogether pleasant break-up he was always turning up and talking to her, as if nothing had ever happened between them. "If you must," she said and looked back at her papers. Of course, in usual Chris Keller fashion he didn't notice that she was trying to work and started yammering on about something or other. After enduring it for five minutes she groaned and slammed the book shut, deciding to head to the library.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Since when do you care?" Haley asked bluntly as she stood up.

Chris made a face. "Keller's always cared."

_I just wanted you to care…_

Haley tried once more to shove the voice that was plaguing her, but it kept repeating in her head. Without bothering to reply to Chris' comment she gathered her things and stomped out of the lounge, turning a few staff member's heads since she was generally known for her friendly attitude and sunny demeanor.

Haley walked to the library in a huff, partly because she was supposed to have been there helping Nathan after school; meaning now. When she reached her usual spot, she dropped her papers on the table, only after which she realized she had just brought the papers she had to mark, not the text she needed to refer to. Shaking her head, she turned on her heel and went back out of the library to get her book.

On the way there, she was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a moment to notice the person standing across from her in the hall; Nathan. She wondered what he was going to say to her next, when she became aware that he hadn't noticed her. In fact, he hadn't noticed anything as he just walked toward and then inside the boy's locker room as if that was where he was supposed to be.

Haley raised an eyebrow as she thought about it: she knew he wasn't on the basketball team, which was practicing now; a fact she had learnt from Peyton who had memorized Jake's schedule so she could do her best to avoid him all day. Then, what was Nathan doing in the boy's locker room?

Haley frowned. Then, with a glance back over her shoulder she followed him inside.

She closed the door gently behind her so he didn't hear a noise, but he couldn't miss the gasp of surprise she let out when she saw him standing in front of one of the lockers.

Nathan looked to the side and stared at her incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question! You don't have any sport right now, and what you're about to do right there is vandalism!" Haley folded her arms over her chest. "I should take you to the principal."

Nathan looked down in his hand and realized that from where she was standing it looked like he was about to scrape the locker, rather than open it. "I'm not trying to vandalize it; I'm just going to open it –"

"Well, it's not your locker so I could take you to the principal for that too – only of course that wouldn't be of much use, since he probably knows you're not really a student so he would let you off anyway."

"Look, this is important. Can you just wait a little until I'm finished and then we can talk?"

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?"

"Why did you follow me in here, then?"

"I didn't follow you in here."

"No?"

"No!"

"Then what are you doing in the boy's locker room?"

Haley paused for a moment and leant back on her heels. "Well…I…I just came to…"

"Yes?" Nathan prodded.

"I came to ask the coach about something."

"Really?"

"Yes; he's helping out with the play, remember?"

Nathan did remember; he had seen him come in and talk to Haley yesterday morning when they had been in the auditorium. "He's at practice."

"So I see." Haley turned around and started to head back out before she did another 180 degree turn and walked back up to him. "And, just so you know, I was mad! I still am, actually!"

"You're mad at me?"

"Yes!"

"What happened to your whole 'you're only doing your job, like I'm doing mine' theory," Nathan repeated her words, but he said it in a somewhat high-pitched voice, which only seemed to fuel her anger.

"I'm not mad because you lied," Haley clarified.

"Then what the hell are you mad about?"

"I'm mad about the way you treated me!"

Then, Nathan started to get angry. "I was never anything but nice to you!"

Haley scoffed. "You made a complete fool of me!"

"Wha-"

"I was so worried that you weren't doing well and that you weren't going to pass your exams –"

"I never told you to worry about me."

"Maybe not; but you didn't have to say yes when I offered you extra lessons. You should have just treated me the way you did all your other teachers!"

"Well, maybe I would have if you had treated me like you did all your other students."

Haley stared at him open-mouthed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't see you offering anyone else tutoring."

Haley let out a shocked gasp. "Oh, you are so full of yourself! You know, I –"

She stopped all of a sudden when they heard the back door, the one that lead to the coach's office and the gym, open. She was still trying to work out what to say or do when out of the blue she saw Nathan's face come towards her, and he kissed her.

She didn't even close her eyes; she was too surprised to do anything but just stand there as his mouth covered hers. The sound of the back door closing seemed to jerk her into action as she put her hands on Nathan's chest and shoved him away from her, hard.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"Er, well…" Nathan stuttered, still trying to work out the answer to that himself. Remembering Brooke's words when they had been in a similar situation, he said, "It's the only good excuse for us being here."

Haley stared at him as if he had just grown another arm. "I'm a teacher! And for all intents and purposes anyone who could have come out from behind that door thinks you're a student! Well, except for Jake – and probably Lucas I suppose, that is, if you really are cousins – but everyone else does! Including the coach! I could have been arrested!"

"Oh."

"And," Haley continued, on full steam now, "the irony is you would have been both the alleged 'victim' and the arresting officer! There is no way you can be that stupid, so why don't you try again!"

"I…I just did it to shut you up," he said finally.

Haley's eyebrows went up; way up. "To shut me up?" she repeated.

"Uh, well…you wouldn't stop talking and they would have heard you so…"

"You know what? I hope whoever owns that locker finds you looking through their stuff and gives you another black eye!"

As she stormed out, Nathan yelled back, "I'm so touched!"

She didn't bother to look back at him, she just strode out, worsening Nathan's bad mood. It amplified even more when he finally opened the locker and found absolutely nothing inside.


	37. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

Even though he heard the knock on the door, Jake took his time answering it. It was Friday night and the only person who could be coming to see him was Nathan to discuss the seemingly never-ending case. Their plan the day before had failed due to something unforeseen; Damien hadn't gone to basketball practice.

Jake had noticed he was missing at the beginning of practice when he was writing down the names for the coach. He had then asked him, just casually, if he knew anything about it and coach had informed him that Damien had fallen ill at lunch time and gone home, but had popped in to tell the coach before he left. Unfortunately, between classes and running around trying to get Peyton to acknowledge his presence, let alone talk to him, Jake had forgotten to take his phone with him to the gym and since leaving during practice was severely frowned upon, he'd had no way of telling Nathan it would be a waste of time to try opening the locker.

Damien had then been absent again, this time for the entire school day, which meant that Nathan and Jake were going to have to wait three more days at least to see if they could find anything on him, since they didn't have enough evidence to try searching his home yet. Jake had been further upset by the fact that this morning Peyton had been absent too, and as he hadn't been able to catch Haley alone to ask her about it, he had started to think that she had cut to avoid him and wondered whether she would continue to do so until he left.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when he opened the door and stared wide-eyed at his visitor. He blinked twice before opening his mouth. "Peyton?"

She smiled at him, but just barely. "Hi."

"H-hey." He stared at her in surprise, expecting her to start talking but she didn't say anything, so he asked, "Do you want to come in?"

She nodded. "Okay."

Jake stepped back and allowed her to enter his tiny apartment before closing the door. He turned to her and stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets for want of something to do. "Do you want to sit down?" he gestured to the chair, but she shook her head.

"Standing's fine."

"Okay then. Er…what are you doing here, Peyton?"

"I…I went to see my father this morning."

"Oh. Right; he was coming today, wasn't he?" Jake remembered, and felt some sort of relief at the fact that she hadn't cut school to avoid him.

"Well, he came into Tree Hill yesterday, but I didn't go see him then…even though I was supposed to," she added.

"Is something wrong?"

"I…I met this woman."

"O-kay…" Jake said, wondering where this was going.

"She told me she was my mother."

"What?" he exclaimed.

"My reaction exactly; only she knew all this stuff about me and then I went to see my Dad this morning and…he said it was true."

"B-but…how?"

"Apparently, I'm adopted. He said I was supposed to find out when I was 18, but after my Mom died, he decided not to tell me. Which is stupid really, because it turns out she's not even my Mom – and he's not my Dad – and I don't know why this should matter since I'm 24 years old you know; why should I care who my parents are, I don't even see them – him - much…"

"Peyton…" Jake didn't wait for her to reply before he closed the distance between them and hugged her.

She sighed as she rested her head against his chest. "I wasn't planning on coming…I just sort of ended up here," she murmured. "I mean, Ellie knows where I live and I didn't really want to see her tonight. Sorry."

"It's okay. I don't mind," he whispered soothingly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

...

Haley took the money out of her purse before her cab pulled up in front of her apartment building because she wanted to get home in a hurry. It had only been drizzling when she left her family's old house, currently occupied by her sisters, but now the rain was pouring down and she had to run through it to get home.

Shutting the cab door closed behind her, she clutched her handbag tight as she ran blindly through the rain and all the way up to the top step, which was thankfully sheltered by the overhang. It was only as she fumbled about her purse looking for her key that she realized there was someone sitting on the step next to her.

Haley nearly screamed and fell back against the door. "What are you doing here?"

Nathan stood up and faced her. "I wanted to talk to you."

"But how do you know where I live. What, are you stalking me?"

"No! I brought you home one day."

"Oh. Right," Haley said, remembering. "But, still, that doesn't give you the right to just show up here."

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I said and did some things that I shouldn't have and I wanted to apologize."

"Well…thank you," Haley said, and then turned to her left to face the door once more.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm going home!" She stuck the key into the lock but before she could turn it Nathan stopped her.

"Will you at least hear me out first?"

"I thought you just came here to apologize. I accepted your apology so I don't see why there's anything more left to say."

"You know that's not true."

"Look, Nathan, it's raining; we should both just go home!"

"Haley, I'm sorry if I made you feel like I had used you or something with all those extra lessons, but the only reason I took you up on your offer was because I wanted to spend time with you. At first I thought I'd just go for that one, but then we talked, you know, not just about school stuff and I liked that so I kept on going. I swear I never meant to hurt you."

Haley paused, staring at the door. Then she said softly, "You just called me Haley."

"Yeah, I did. I was going to tell you about the case once it was over…and then I was going to ask you out."

"You were?" she said, this time a little louder.

"Yeah, I was. So…do you think if…maybe I still do…would you say yes?"

"Oh…" Haley glanced up at Nathan and then back at the door again. "I don't think so, Nathan."

"Wh…well, why not?"

"Well…because!"

"Because what?" Nathan demanded.

"Everyone thinks you're a student –"

"I mean after the case is over and everyone knows the truth!"

"But, I'm not supposed to have known the truth before the case is over."

"So?"

"So if we go out then everyone will think we were doing something even when I was supposed to have thought you were my student!"

"I don't care what other people think!"

"Well, I do. I don't want to jeopardize my job, my reputation."

"So that's your excuse?"

"It's not an excuse, Nathan, it's the truth."

"Well, I don't believe you. That can't be the reason."

"What other reason do you need?"

"How about the real one?"

"Okay, then, how about the fact that you dated my sister!" Haley shouted.

"I didn't date her."

"Don't even try to lie about it! Taylor already told me you two were together."

"Well, then she didn't explain."

"You know, I don't really want to hear about the details of my sister's relationships so I didn't ask for much more."

"Well, you should have! Look, Taylor was the first girl I had sex with, but –"

"Oh, god! I really wanted to know that," Haley said sarcastically.

"But, we weren't really together!" Nathan finished. "It was just that one night and it was a really long time ago. We met each other recently, but we weren't together then."

"And this is supposed to make me feel better? Make me want to date you? The fact that the first girl you had sex with was my sister? – My older sister! God, how old are you?"

"I'm 25."

"B-but Taylor's nearly 30." It was clear that Haley was mentally trying to do the math so Nathan just admitted it to her.

"I was 14."

"I think I'm going to be sick."


	38. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

"Haley, you can't say you won't go out with me just because I was with Taylor once!"

"I just did!"

"It was 11 years ago! I didn't know you then; I didn't even know there was going to be a you."

"What does that mean?"

Nathan sighed and tried to explain. "Look, I'm not the type of guy who usually does stuff like this."

"Stuff like what?"

"Like standing out here waiting for you for over half an hour, trying to convince you to go out with me."

"Why? Because most of the time girls just fall at your feet? Yeah, now I'm really convinced."

"You know, you're not making this any easier on me."

"Why would I want to make it any easier on you?"

"I don't know! You know, I have no idea why I'm here and why I'm trying for something you obviously have no intention of budging on, but I'm still here! And, for some reason, I still want to be with you."

"'For some reason'?" Haley repeated.

"Because I like you."

"You don't even know me that well, Nathan. How can you know that you want to go out with me?"

"Because I do, okay?"

"Nathan, I just…this just can't be anything. I'm sorry." And with that she quickly unlocked the front door and walked straight down the hall and up to the elevator. She pressed the 'up' button and kept her eyes fixed on the elevator doors, willing herself not to look back and see if he was still there. It turned out she didn't have to.

"What are you so afraid of?"

Haley looked behind her and saw Nathan standing in the doorway, obviously having held it open when she went inside. His choice of words irritated her. "I'm not afraid of anything," she said, flatly.

"Right." This time it was his tone that irritated her, his voice laced with sarcasm.

She was trying to come up with a retort when he turned around and walked away. He was actually walking away! How dare he! Well, she wasn't about to let him have the last word. Just as the elevator dinged to announce its arrival on the bottom floor Haley was marching through the main entrance and into the rain, following Nathan.

"What is your problem?"

At the sound of Haley's harsh voice, Nathan stopped walking and looked back at her. "My problem?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't realize that I was the one with the problem."

"I am not afraid of anything," Haley repeated, "and you can't just say that I am and storm off like everything is my fault."

"So it's my fault?"

"It's nobody's fault, okay! Sometimes people just don't get together. You know, if you ever read anything you would know that."

"I have read things."

"Sports Illustrated doesn't count."

"Real witty."

"Look, I said this can't happen –"

"Then why does it sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that?"

"I'm not trying to convince myself! I know that it can't – it looks like you're the one who needs convincing."

"Not convincing – just something other than the pathetic excuses you've been throwing at me."

"The fact that I'm worried about my job and that you've slept with my sister are not pathetic excuses! But, hey, if you need more I've got them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Name one."

"How about I don't want to go out with you because I don't want to? I mean, did you ever think of that? I mean you're so in your own head that you clearly don't think about other people. Well?" Haley prodded when he didn't say anything.

In fact, he didn't look like he was about to say anything as he stared quietly at her, the only sound being that of the pouring rain. Finally, he spoke, "Okay then."

Haley looked at him strangely. "Okay?" she whispered.

Nathan nodded and looked at the ground as he started to turn back.

Haley's expression softened as she realized what she had just said. "Nathan, I – I didn't mean –"

He put his hands up to stop her. "No, it's okay. I don't need an English lesson. Don't worry, I won't bother you again."

And as she watched him walk away with a sinking feeling in her stomach it took Haley a few minutes to realize that she was standing in the middle of the rain and was soaked through.

xxx

Peyton woke up at about 3 a.m. and the first thing she realized was that she was in someone else's bed. The second thing that hit her was all the events of the past two days and the fact that it was Jake's bed.

Aware that she was alone in bed, she looked around and saw him sitting in a chair by the bed, staring out the window in the dark, either pretending not to know she was awake or being genuinely unaware of it.

"Jake?" she whispered.

"Hey. I hope I didn't wake you."

"You didn't. Are you okay over there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you're uncomfortable you could…come here," Peyton offered.

"You don't have to –"

"It's okay." She moved to the other side of the bed so that there was space for him to get in.

He remained where he was at first, contemplating what to do. Then, he got up from his chair and lay down on the bed beside her, but didn't get underneath the covers. "Goodnight Peyton."

She snuggled up closer to him so her head rested next to his shoulder. "Goodnight. Hey, Jake?" she whispered a moment later.

"Yeah?"

"Were you really going to tell me the truth eventually?"

"Yeah. I had a plan, actually."

"What kind of plan?"

"The day we solved the case I was going to go see you as soon as I was finished at the station and I was going to tell you everything. And then, I was going to ask you to come to Charlotte with me."


	39. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

On Saturday Peyton strolled into her apartment at 8 in the morning and found her roommate sitting in front of the television in her pajamas, indulging in a whole tub of ice cream. "Haley?"

She turned around and Peyton could see a dab of ice cream on the corner of her mouth she hadn't noticed yet. "Hi. How are you feeling?" Haley asked, concerned.

"I'm okay," Peyton told her as she took off her coat and put her bag down.

"How did things go with your Dad last night? I mean, after I spoke to you last."

"Alright."

"But you two must have worked things out, right? You stayed there; you must have talked again sometime last night."

"Er…actually," she began, sitting down on the chair to the right of the sofa Haley was sitting on, "I didn't stay there."

"What? Where were you last night?"

"I was at Jake's."

"Jake's?" Haley grinned. "Peyton that's great! You two are back together, right?"

"Umm…not exactly."

"But you were there the whole night; didn't you talk about your relationship at all?"

"Yeah."

"And what did he say?"

Peyton sighed. "He said that he was going to ask me to go to Charlotte with him."

"Oh my God! Peyton! Well, what did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing! How could you say nothing? Jake asked you to move in with him!"

"He didn't exactly ask me –"

"You know he still wants you to," Haley said, matter-of-factly. "Didn't you say anything about it when you left this morning?"

"Well…I sort of left while he was still sleeping."

"Peyton!"

"Well, I didn't know what to do! I knew that if I waited for him to wake up he'd probably want to talk about it – or us – or something and I just need some time to think."

"But, you will talk to him?"

"I will. Once I figure out what I'm going to say."

"Right." Haley and Peyton watched the movie for a few minutes in silence before Peyton finally spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always," Haley said as she licked the ice cream spoon.

"What would you do if you were me?"

"You really want to know?"

Peyton paused for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

"Well, you're not going to like it, but I would go. You and Jake are so cute together, Peyton, and I know that no matter what he did and didn't tell you he really does care about you. I'm sure he never meant to hurt you."

"You know…I don't think Nathan did either."

Haley started, and then looked back at the TV. "He doesn't have anything to do with this."

Peyton sighed and got up from her chair, moving to sit next to Haley. "I think I've been a bad best friend."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, when you told me about what happened at the station I was so caught up with thinking about Jake that I didn't realize until later that Nathan was the same guy who you told me you thought had a crush on you – and even when I did realize it I was still too mad at Jake and my Dad to come and see how you were doing. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you've had a lot on your plate; the thing with Jake and then finding out about your parents too. It's okay."

"So I'm forgiven?"

"There's nothing to forgive."

Peyton smiled and she and Haley shared a short hug before Peyton had to ask, "So what's happening with you and Nathan now?"

"Nothing," Haley said nonchalantly.

"Nothing at all? I mean, if he really isn't your student then I thought maybe you were right about him liking you – plus it wouldn't be illegal and you said he was cute-"

"I'm not going to go out with him," Haley said quickly. "I mean, I told you back then that I didn't like him."

"Actually, I think back then you told me he was your student so it would be impossible."

"Either way – whether it's possible or not – I'm not going out with him, okay?"

"And you're fine."

"I'm more than fine; I'm perfect."

"Then can I have some ice cream?"

"Wh-what? But it's my ice cream…" Haley pouted and held the tub closer to her.

"Now I know you like your ice cream, Hales, but unless your using it as comfort food or something like that I really don't see why you can't give up a tiny bit of your…" Peyton leaned to read off the lid, "Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip?"

Peyton got up and went to the kitchen before Haley could reply. She glanced at the tub and then put it down on the floor, turning the TV volume up just as Maria and the children broke out into 'Do Re Mi'.

That night Jake and Nathan met up at the station once more for a largely unenergetic meeting. Jake couldn't help but notice that Nathan merely nodded at everything he said, and, unlike usual, had no ideas of his own. On their way back home, Jake decided to ask him about it.

"Hey, Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything alright, man?"

"Just perfect," Nathan said as he put his jacket on and led the way out of the station. "See you at school tomorrow."

"You don't seem like you're okay."

"Well, I'm fine."

Jake stopped on the steps outside the main entrance to the station. "Did something happen between you and Haley?"

Nathan, who was on a lower step, also stopped, and turned around to look at his friend. "No," he said flatly.

"You seem like something happened –"

"Nothing happened. And nothing's going to happen. Ever. You can trust me on that one."

Realizing what Nathan meant, Jake sympathized. "Sorry, man. Maybe she'll change her mind."

"I don't think so. But, hey, at least things are looking up for one of us."

Jake laughed. "What makes you think they're looking up? I haven't told you what happened this morning – or, rather, didn't happen. It looks like we'll both be going back to Charleston alone."

"Oh? So that's not Peyton standing by your car over there?"

Startled by Nathan's statement, Jake quickly looked up and to his right where he had parked his car. Sure enough, Peyton was standing right next to it. When she noticed Jake had seen her, she smiled and gave him a small wave.

Jake wasn't able to collect his wits fast enough to wave back.

Nathan smiled at his friend. "You were saying?"

"I…uh…well…"

Nathan shook his head. "Later, man."

"Bye. Hey, Nathan?" he added, just as his friend had reached the bottom step.

He turned on his foot and faced him. "Yep?"

"Haley will come around."

Nathan shrugged. "I don't see her standing next to my car."

"Maybe she's waiting half-naked in the back seat."

Nathan chuckled. "Yeah, maybe. See you."

"Bye, Nate."

Jake walked up to Peyton, who remained waiting patiently for him. "Hi."

"Hey," he smiled.

"So…that's Nathan, huh?" Peyton gestured in the direction he had left.

Jake nodded. "That's Nathan. Oh, that's right, you guys have never met," he realized.

"I'd like to meet him sometime."

"You would?"

"Yeah."

"Because of Haley?" Jake supposed.

"Well, partly…And also because he's your friend."

"Because he's my friend?" Jake repeated.

Peyton nodded. "I, uh…I went to your house, but you weren't there so I thought maybe you might be here so I came here and…"

"Here I am."

"Yeah. Jake, I'm sorry for leaving the way I did this morning," Peyton said finally. "I shouldn't have done that – in fact, I'm shouldn't have come to your apartment last night. I –"

"Don't say that," Jake cut in. "I'm glad you did."

Peyton smiled at him. "I am too."

"You are."

Peyton sighed. "I've been thinking over and over about what to do and no matter what I keep coming to the same conclusion."

Jake took a deep breath before asking, "And what's that?"

"I'm still mad at you…but I want to go to Charleston with you. I can only leave once the semester is over, but after that…I do."

Jake stared.

"This would be a very good time to say something."

"Right! Sorry, I-I just – are you sure?"

Peyton smile widened as she nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Okay. Wow."

"But, no more secrets!" she warned.

"No more secrets; I promise," Jake told her, grinning.

"Okay." Both paused as they grinned at each other, neither saying anything. "Well, are you going to kiss me now or what?"

Jake chuckled. "Oh, I am definitely going to kiss you."

And he did.


	40. Chapter 38

**Important A/N: Hey! Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who leaves me such amazing reviews. I love reading them, and I can't believe there are over 700 of them! Thanks so much! Secondly, onto the important bit. I'm starting university next week and, no, that does not mean I'm putting this on hiatus or anything like that, but it does mean that the next update will take slightly longer than usual for the simple reason that I have to get myself a new computer. I had wanted to get up to the 39th chapter before I leave, but I've been so busy packing that I haven't been able to. So, I have to leave you guys at this point, but I will be back soon with Brucas and Naley in Chapter 39.**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

Early Monday morning Nathan and Lucas were headed to school, with Lucas behind the wheel.

"So, what's going to happen today?" Lucas wondered.

Nathan shrugged. "That depends on Damien, I guess. We don't even know if he's going to show up for your basketball practice."

"You know, I could text message you and tell you whether or not Damien's there. I mean, I can't take my phone into the gym because then coach would kill me, but I could tell you if I see him in the locker room. It would save you a trip if he's not there again."

"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Luke."

"No problem. No point you getting caught for nothing."

Nathan started at this, and for a moment he wondered whether it had been Lucas who had stumbled into the locker room that day when he and Haley had been there. "What do you mean 'getting caught?'?"

"You know…in case someone finds you," Lucas said nonchalantly. "But, hopefully that won't happen."

Nathan just nodded.

"So…what happens after you check Damien's locker?"

"Well, if I find something in it and it's obviously drugs then I can take it, as well as him, down to the station, in which case I'm going to need the car so –"

"I'll get a ride home from Brooke," Lucas supplied.

"Okay. But, if there's nothing in Damien's locker, then we're pretty much back where we started. Then again, if he does have drugs on him, but was only in possession and not dealing, like Rachel was, we're…back where we started again. Only worse."

"How's that? I mean, Damien had to get the drugs from somewhere. And I find it hard to believe that there can be that many different dealers around –"

"Oh, there can be. Trust me on that, Lucas. But, if Damien's not the dealer, then his supplier is probably the guy we're looking for. But we still won't know for sure."

When they got to school, Nathan went to the library while Lucas headed to the locker room. Luckily for Nathan, Damien was there, so, after waiting enough time for the team to have all gone inside the gym, Nathan left his bag and books in the library and walked into the boys' locker room, making sure he had Jake's master key with him.

Nathan remembered where Damien's locker was located, so it didn't take long for him to silently maneuver through the benches and empty duffel bags to get to it. Taking the key out of his pocket and inserting it, he had just begun to turn the locker open when he heard one of the gym doors bang open. Mentally cursing, he quickly locked it again, and tip-toed to hide behind one of the farther lockers that weren't being used so, hopefully, whoever it was wouldn't have to pass him.

* * *

Haley drove Peyton's car to school that morning since her roommate had spent most of Sunday at Jake's apartment. Peyton hadn't stayed on the phone long enough to tell Haley the details, but she did know that Peyton and Jake were back together, and that Peyton was planning on joining Jake in Charleston after he left town. As she parked the car and strolled towards the faculty lounge she couldn't help but feel sad that her friend would be leaving, but at the same time Peyton had sounded so happy that she was happy for her too. Peyton had asked her to come to school early because Jake had early morning basketball practice and she didn't want to wait alone in the lounge for ages. She had promised Haley full details if she showed up, although Haley had informed her she would have expected the full story even if she didn't.

Haley was still thinking about Peyton leaving town when she walked into the school building, and down the halls towards the faculty lounge. She was so immersed in what she was going to do afterwards that she almost didn't notice Nathan sneaking into the locker room.

When he just slipped inside the room and didn't say anything to her, she first thought that he was ignoring her after what had happened on Saturday, but then she realized that, just like the time before, he hadn't seen her.

Haley remained glued to the spot as she wondered what she should do next. She knew she really should just go to the staffroom and leave Nathan to do whatever it was he was going to do. On the other hand, she really wanted to speak to him and apologize for the things she had said to him that night, but she had no idea what she was going to say, or whether he would even hear her out.

Still, as Haley thought more about it, this might be the best time to go and talk to him. Hardly anyone was in school so there was a much smaller chance of them being found by anyone – and even if they were they would just be talking. Haley could always say she came to see the coach, and Nathan could pretend to have some sport or something; maybe he did have a valid reason for being there in the first place. Either way, they would come out of it fine. As long as he didn't try to kiss her again.

Haley pushed that last thought out of her mind as she walked the short distance past the locker room to the faculty lounge. Luckily, Peyton wasn't inside - she had left a little note for Haley saying she had gone to the bathroom - so Haley kept her handbag and papers there, and returned, this time going straight into the locker room.

She aimed to keep rather quiet, so she cringed when she heard the door click shut. Hoping that the sound was just louder in her own head, she walked towards the place Nathan had been standing when she had seen him in here last, assuming that that was where he was likely to be.

She got the shock of her life when she found the same locker door open, but a different person standing there. Haley stepped backwards, deciding it was best to get out of there – and fast. However, as she turned, her shoe knocked into the side of one of the benches, which didn't go unheard by Haley or the boy.

He started and turned to stare at her, making Haley unsure of what to do next.

"Er…hello…" she said finally. "I just came to see the coach."

"He's at practice."

"Oh. I see. I didn't know that. I'll come back later then."

He nodded, and Haley moved to be on her way when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something sticking out of the top of his gym bag. He saw her looking at it, and hastily tried to move the bag out of her view, but because it wasn't zipped up some of the overflowing contents spilled out onto the ground, including what Haley realized was a gun.

On impulse she gasped as he rapidly picked it up, at which point she wasn't sure she could breathe.

"Just get out of here," he told her as he stood upright, the offending object gripped tightly in his hand.

Haley nodded and took a shaky step backwards, but couldn't help all the questions in her head. "Wh-what are you doing with that?" she blurted out.

"Just do what I told you!" he yelled, and his hand shook a little as he lifted the gun up and pointed it in her direction, causing Haley to swallow slowly as she tried to walk backwards.

She reached behind her and felt the wall, which she leaned on as she moved away, her eyes never leaving the gun in his hand, when, suddenly, it wasn't in his hand anymore.

Something appeared from the side, blocked from her view by another row of lockers, and knocked the gun out of his hand. Instinctively, Haley screamed as the gun fell to the floor, as if in slow motion.

Then, out of nowhere, Nathan was there. The shock she had gotten from seeing this boy, and then the gun, had caused her to forget why she had actually come into the locker room in the first place; to talk to Nathan. He started fighting the boy, and soon he had him on the ground, while Haley just stared.

Nathan looked over his shoulder at her. "Get out of here!" he shouted, before the boy struck a blow to Nathan's chest and Nathan had to retaliate.

Haley realized she had to get help – but from who? The closest place to go would be the gym; the coach, Jake and the rest of the team would be there, but her only way to get there was to go through Nathan and the boy, whose fight was steadily getting worse as both tried to get the other away from them and reach for the gun.

The faculty lounge was nearby, but what could she and Peyton do? The library was even closer, but the old librarians would be of even less help. Haley struggled to think of something, when she finally realized she had to stop thinking and just _do_ something; anything. She was about to turn and run outside to get her cell phone when she heard a loud clang of something hitting a locker and, worried, she turned her head around to see what it was.

When she did, she saw that the boy was reaching for the gun and Nathan, whose head was the something that had banged against a locker, didn't look likely to recover in time to stop him. Thinking fast, Haley looked all around her, for something she could use. Then she saw the fire extinguisher.

She grabbed it, and closed the short distance between her and them. The boy, on his hands and knees as he moved to get his gun back, couldn't see her, and so she simply knocked him on the side of the head with it.

His head bobbed, and then his body fell down, lying on the ground.

Haley momentarily wondered if she had killed him, before realizing that she wasn't that strong and he must just be unconscious. Secure in that thought she went over to Nathan and pulled him up to stand.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded dimly, but his face grimaced as his hand rested on the bruised spot on his head.

"Oh, no…" Haley reached up and rubbed the area, worry, "You might get a bump."

"I've had worse," Nathan mumbled. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Haley said, but she didn't look him in the eye as she concentrated on rubbing his head.

"Haley," Nathan stopped her by putting his hands on her arms, "are you sure?"

She nodded, but the look on her face was less than convincing. "I'm fine…I just…" Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.

Nathan put his arms around her waist and rubbed her back soothingly. "Haley…"

"You probably think I'm silly getting scared over a little something like that."

"I don't think it's silly," he whispered in your ear. "It's perfectly natural to get scared. You're not used to things like this."

Haley took a step back and looked at him. "What do you mean not used to it? Is a guy pointing a gun in your face something you're used to? Like, it's something that happens everyday?"

"Well, not everyday, but it's not like it's never happened to me before, Haley. I am a police officer."

Haley frowned and hugged him tighter.

"Hey, it's okay."

As he tried to calm Haley down, Nathan thought he heard something. He stopped speaking and concentrated on listening, at which point he realized he definitely heard something; and he had an idea of what it was.

Slowly he bent down so that his mouth was level with her ear once more and he whispered, ever so softly, "Don't move."

Haley's eyes flew open at his words and she opened her mouth to question him, but Nathan was quicker and brought his hand up to cover her mouth. Haley had no choice but to stay quiet and stay still, wondering what was going on.

Soon, she felt herself start to move; not out of choice, but because Nathan was slowly moving forwards, and she was moving back with him. Then, with no warning, Nathan let go of her and pushed her back behind a row of lockers just as she heard a loud bang sound off and she screamed in spite of Nathan's warnings.

The sound was soon followed by a door slamming and Haley peered out from behind the lockers to find that the boy was missing, and Nathan was about to follow him out.

"Nathan!" she shouted, but he didn't stop.

"Get Jake," he called over his shoulder before running out of the locker room.

Haley quickly started running in the opposite direction to which they had left; she went towards the gym and burst open the doors, surprising everyone inside.

The team stopped their exercise to look at her strangely, while the coach looked angry for having his practice disturbed. Jake, however, noticed Haley's expression and quickly jogged over to her.

"What happened?" he asked quickly. "Is it Peyton?"

Haley shook her head. "Nathan. There was this boy in the locker room –"

"Damien?" Jake supplied.

"I don't know, but he had a gun! And I thought he was unconscious but he must have not been because he ran out and Nathan went after him," Haley said quickly.

"Don't go anywhere," Jake told her before running out of the gym.

The coach soon came up to Haley. "What just happened? Where the hell did Jagielski go? No one leaves my practice unless _I_ tell them to," he boomed. "And what are you doing here Miss James?"

"I…uh…"

Soon, Lucas appeared by their side, clearly concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Haley was interrupted again, this time by the sound of a loud gunshot.


	41. Chapter 39

**A/N: Hello everyone! And, no, your eyes are not deceiving you, I really have updated! I am SO sorry about the delay, I didn't think it would take _this_ long, but my course started off with a lot of work and then it was difficult to get back into writing. I'm almost sure on how many chapters this story will have, but I will tell you for certain when I post the next chapter, and I promise that won't take as long as this one did. Hope everyone's enjoying the new season of OTH, but I won't talk about that in case there are people who haven't seen it yet; let's just get on with the story!**

**Chapter Thirty Nine**

Haley tried not to think too hard about what she was doing as she turned off the engine of Peyton's beloved car. She continued to ignore the desire to overanalyze the situation as she picked up her purse, stepped down from the car, and locked it.

"Er…Miss James?"

Haley recognized the voice and all her uncertainties came flooding back. Taking a deep breath she turned on her heel to face Brooke. "Hi," she said quietly.

Brooke flashed Haley a smile. "Hi. I thought that was you. Are you here to see Nathan?" Brooke laughed and then answered her own question, "What am I saying, of course you are. Oh, unless someone else you know is –"

"No," Haley cut in. "I just came to see how Nathan is doing. Just to check, you know," Haley added. "I mean, I don't have any classes today until after lunch and I didn't have anything else to do – not that I'm here just because of that – I just –"

"He's on the second floor; room 2303."

Haley smiled, relaxing slightly. "Thanks." She moved to go inside before glancing back at Brooke. "You're not coming…?"

"Oh, I am, I'm just going to meet Lucas in the cafeteria first."

"Oh, okay. Um, thanks." Haley nodded at her and went inside the hospital.

It was only after she had left that Brooke realized she probably should have told her what she of Nathan's condition. However, since Miss James was already out of her line of vision, Brooke simply hoped she found out sooner rather than later and headed round the back of the hospital so she could go straight for the cafeteria.

It didn't take Brooke long to find Lucas, he was sitting in a corner brooding by himself. She smiled as she came up behind him and leaned down to place a kiss on his head. Lucas smiled immediately and looked up at her. "Hey."

"Hey you," she said as she sat down on the chair next to him. "How's Nathan doing?"

"Same as he was last night. Not any better, but not any worse either," Lucas informed her.

"Well, that's good, right?"

Lucas nodded mutely.

"And how are you doing?" Brooke reached out and rubbed his shoulder. "Did you not get much sleep?"

He shrugged. "I slept alright."

Brooke frowned. "Broody, is there something you're not telling me about Nathan? Is his condition really not getting worse or –"

"No, no. It's the same as when you left last night. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem…out of it. I know you and Nathan are close, more so now than you were before, since you live together…it's okay to be worried about him."

"I'm not worried." When Brooke gave him a look, he added, "Okay, so I am. But it's not like I've never worried about him before. He is a cop; this isn't exactly the first time Nathan's been in a dangerous situation."

"Well, then, what's got you so…out of it?"

Lucas sighed and pushed a hand through his blond hair.

"I sort of ran into my Mom this morning. She came to see Nathan."

"It couldn't have been that bad…"

"Well, no, it wasn't…Its just…It's weird, you know."

Brooke nodded. "I know. Well, I guess I don't really know since I hardly see my parents at all, but…I understand. I mean –"

Lucas smiled and interrupted, "I know what you mean, Brooke. And thanks." He put his arm around her and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "I'm glad you're here."

Brooke scooted her chair closer to his and rested her head against his chest. "I'm glad I'm here too. But I know how I can make you really glad…" she added, with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

Brooke placed a hand on his cheek and guided his head down to hers, kissing him soundly. Lucas grinned against her lips and tilted his head to deepen the kiss, which Brooke immediately reciprocated. However, the cafeteria seats were not the most comfortable or sound chairs and as Lucas moved, his unsteady chair wobbled somewhat so he put his hand on the back of the chair to steady it. Without warning, he turned his head to check that his chair was stable, startling Brooke whose mouth accidentally landed on Lucas' Adam's apple just as an elderly nurse walked past and noticed the pair. She gave Brooke a stern glare as Brooke extricated her lips from Lucas' neck.

Once she had left, Brooke and Lucas looked at each other; their faces flushed more from their interruption than what they had actually been doing.

"Well…" Lucas mumbled just as Brooke broke out into a fit of giggles.

* * *

It didn't take Haley long to find Nathan's room, and although the door was partially open she knocked anyway. When there was no answer she tentatively pushed the door to open wider, until she could see that there was no one inside, save for the young man in the hospital bed.

From her place by the door Haley took in the sight of Nathan Scott, hooked up on machines, wires poking into him. It was hard to imagine that just the day before she had been arriving at school at this time, and her only concern then was her situation with Nathan. Less than an hour after that, she had been unsure if Nathan was even alive.

She had unwittingly walked in on the person Nathan had been trying to arrest, a student she had learnt was named Damien West, one she only knew of as someone Nathan had gotten into a fight with not all that long ago. When Damien had run out of the school building, Nathan had run after him. Haley had found Jake who had caught up with them soon, but not soon enough to stop Damien and Nathan getting into another fight where Damien ended up shooting Nathan in the side of his stomach.

Haley half-closed the door behind her and slowly walked to his bedside. Nathan seemed to be in a deep sleep, but he appeared to be breathing on his own and she drew some comfort from that. She realized that she could have and should have asked Brooke about Nathan's condition, but she had been in such a hurry to leave that awkward situation without babbling further and see Nathan that hadn't had the sense to do so at the time.

As if of its own accord, Haley's left hand came up to brush gently over the tips of Nathan's hair. They traced his hairline and came down to trace the scar on his forehead, a reminder of his fight with Damien.

Before Haley really had time to think more about Nathan, she heard voices by the door. She turned her head and as she saw the door being pushed open wider she jerked her hand away from Nathan, and moved a foot away from the bed just as the two people entered and stared back at her. She had never seen the dark haired woman before, but the other she recognized as Lucas' mother.

"Hello," Deb said, evidently having recognized her as well.

"Hi. I…just came to see how Nathan is," Haley stated the obvious.

"Hello," the other woman piped up.

"This is Lucas' English teacher. And Nathan's too…" Deb added, as if she wasn't sure.

Haley nodded.

The dark-haired woman smiled. "I'm Nathan's mother, Karen."

"I'm Haley."

Deb opened her mouth to say something, she wasn't sure what, when her cell phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and checked the screen. She glanced at Karen and said, "I have to take this."

"That's alright."

Deb went back out of the room, leaving Haley and Karen alone in the room with Nathan.

"So…how is Nathan doing?" Haley inquired.

"Good actually," Karen replied, moving further into the room and standing by the foot of the bed. "He woke up late last night."

"Really?"

Karen nodded and smiled. "He wasn't awake for very long, but he could talk to us for a bit. And he managed to wake up earlier this morning to take some medicine. The doctor says he'll have to be careful for a while, but he thinks Nathan's going to make a full recovery."

"Wow…that's really good. Jake said Nathan was doing better when I saw him in the evening, but that must have been before he woke up."

"You know Jake?" Karen wondered. "Oh, of course, he was teaching, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he is. Or was," she amended. "He's also dating my friend so…"

"Well, it's about time Jake found himself a nice girl. I have some real horror stories about his ex-girlfriend," Karen confessed, shaking her head, drawing a smile from Haley. "So, you taught Nathan English?" Karen verified. "How was he in his studies?"

"Oh…Well, Nathan is…"

"By all means feel free to say 'lazy'," Karen told her.

Haley grinned, completely at ease with her. "I was going to say he doesn't like to apply himself. Concentration doesn't seem to be his strong point."

Karen smiled, amused. "I'm sure you would have got him to concentrate more than his 50 year-old male English teacher when he really was in high school."

Haley laughed, but Karen didn't miss the blush that coloured the younger girl's cheeks.

* * *

Nathan woke up a few minutes before he opened his eyes. The bright light burned against his eye lids and he could vaguely hear two people talking. He scrunched up his eyes and blinked a few times before opening them wide. His gaze met with the ceiling and the fluorescent tube light, forcing Nathan to close his eyes once again. As the voices started to become more audible he opened his eyes slowly, making sure to look across from him, rather than up. The sight that met his eyes was surprising, to say the least.

Opposite from him sat his mother, and on the chair right next to her was the last person Nathan expected to find in his hospital room; Haley.

Unable to find his voice, Nathan simply stared at them, deep in conversation, for a few long moments, until Haley, upon absently glancing around the room, saw him. Karen followed Haley's gaze and smiled at her son.

"Nathan," she began as she stood up to stand by his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he croaked.

"The doctor said to tell the nurse when you woke up again –"

"I can go do that," Haley offered, standing up.

"Thank you," Karen said, as Haley smiled at her, then, with a final glance at Nathan left the room.

Karen moved closer to Nathan and placed her palm over his. "Would you like some water to drink?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

Nathan nodded.

"Okay…but if the Nurse says you have to drink something, then you're having it."

Nathan smiled faintly. "Yes, mom."

Karen sighed and looked at Nathan silently for a few moments, simply stroking his hand. Then, she began, "So…she's nice."

"Haley? She's just my teacher, ma," Nathan managed, desperately wanting not to get into that conversation with his mother at the moment.

Karen smiled. "Then why did you call her 'Haley'?"


	42. Chapter 40

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry I dont have time for a longer author's note, but it is nearly midnight and I just wanted to post this so ya'll dont have to wait longer :) I'm glad you guys are still reading and enjoying**

**Chapter 40**

Nathan shifted about on the bed as he tried to get more comfortable. He had been released from hospital the previous afternoon, and although he was allowed to walk about a little, the doctor had said most of his day should be spent in bed. Along with his bullet wound, Nathan had also sustained an injury to his knee; when he had been shot he had fallen onto his left knee, the same knee he had damaged in high school that had ruined his chance of getting a basketball scholarship. Since it had already been slightly weak, the pain had been greater and Nathan now had to wear a knee guard until it was fully functional again.

As a result of that he had been moved to the downstairs guest bedroom. Nathan didn't really mind, the only problem was that the sun shone directly into the window in this bedroom, and he been awake since not long after dawn thanks to the light.

Ever since he had woken up in hospital Karen had been with him practically 24/7. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate his mother's concern, but he would have rather she stopped treating him like he was 5, instead of his 25 years of age. There had been some problems at the café though since she had been away longer than she planned and the person Karen had left in charge couldn't take care of all the ordering on their own, so, safe in the knowledge that the doctor had seen fit for Nathan to be discharged, Karen had gone back to Charleston that morning not long after Nathan had woken up.

Keith was at work so Lucas was on "Nathan watch", although he was currently preparing for his date with Brooke; not that it was going to be much of a date. Since someone had to stay to look after Nathan, they had to stay in the house.

Nathan picked up the remote beside him and changed the channel on the small TV that had been moved in there for him, in anticipation of his program being about to start. Placing the remote back on the side table, Nathan shifted on the bed once more, and had begun to fluff up the pillow he had placed under his knee when he heard the doorbell ring.

Glancing at the clock, Nathan realized it must be Brooke, but Lucas didn't come out of his room. Nathan was surprised when, a few moments later, he didn't hear any noise from upstairs indicating that Lucas was about to do so. "Luke?" he yelled. "Brooke's here!" Another minute went by, and still no sound of him.

The doorbell rang again.

Grumbling, Nathan managed to sit on the side of the bed and grab his crutches, before hobbling out of the room and towards the front door. In the time it took him to get there he was surprised that Brooke didn't ring the bell again. Leaning on the left crutch, he opened the door with his right hand and found it odd that she was going back down the steps. "Where are you going?"

She turned and Nathan's mouth fell open slightly as he realized that it wasn't Brooke. It was Haley.

She stood three steps below him and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I thought maybe no one was home."

"Oh…yeah, well, I can't exactly go out much so…"

"Right." They stood there for a second before Haley snapped to her senses. "Oh my gosh, Nathan, you should be resting, not answering the door!" she exclaimed as she climbed up the steps and stood on the landing next to him. "Shall I help you to the couch or something?" she offered, gesturing to the living room on their left.

"No, actually I was in bed. I just got the door because Lucas didn't hear it," Nathan explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. I mean, I'm glad you came," he added with a smile, and he was happy when she smiled back. He kicked the door shut before mentioning, "You left pretty quickly that day at the hospital."

"Yeah, I had to get to school…and your family was there, I didn't want to intrude and…I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Nathan nodded. "I'm doing better."

"That's good…But, Nathan, you're still standing!" she realized, and he laughed at that.

"It's this way," Nathan told her as he went back to the guest room, Haley following him. He waited for Haley to enter before gently kicking the door shut using his crutch.

As Nathan moved back to the bed, Haley asked, "Need some help?"

"Er, if you could just take my crutches –"

"Sure."

"Thanks," Nathan said as he gave them to Haley, who put them by the side of the wall as Nathan maneuvered himself so that he was sitting with his legs out on top of the covers.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," he told her.

Haley nodded before starting to play with her hands as she stood uncomfortable next to where she had put the crutches debating whether to sit next to Nathan on the bed, or on the chair next to her. She was about to move to sit on the chair when Nathan patted down the space beside him and told her to sit.

With a smile Haley walked around the bed and sat on the other side; not too far, but not too close to Nathan. "So, er…does it hurt a lot?" Haley asked after a few moments of silence, save for the noise of the television.

"Sometimes, but I'm on painkillers so it's not too bad," Nathan admitted.

"Peyton said that Jake mentioned the case might be wrapped up soon."

"Yeah. I mean, Damien confessed, but he's claiming he was working for someone else."

"Someone else in school?" Haley inquired, suddenly worried.

"No, no," Nathan reassured her. "Just another big dealer. There's some more work to be done, but as far as Tree Hill High goes I think the investigation there is pretty much finished."

Haley nodded, unable to miss what that suggested; that Nathan, like Jake, would be going back to Charlotte. But, she decided to avoid that for now. Realizing she still had her handbag on her shoulder, Haley started to slide it off to put it on the table, but as she was doing so, she remembered what was in it. "Oh! I-I brought you something," she said quickly, causing Nathan to look over at her.

"You bought something for me?"

"I, uh…" she paused while she unzipped the bag and fished it out, as Nathan tried to catch a peek of what it was, his curiosity aroused.

_That's not all that was aroused_, Nathan thought as he took in her outfit; her purple spaghetti strapped top revealed her tanned shoulders nicely, while her denim skirt showed off her long legs that were stretched out on the bed, mere inches away from his. At school she always wore trousers and a shirt, and most of the time her hair was tied up. Today it was loose, just the way Nathan liked it on her.

Noticing her hand emerging from the bag Nathan dragged his eyes away from where they had strayed to her legs, and back to her face and realized she was holding a container of some sort. Nathan's brow furrowed.

"Um, I, er, baked you some brownies," Haley explained sheepishly, but was rewarded when Nathan's face lit up in a grin, encouraging her to go on. "I just always like to have chocolate when I'm sick or not feeling well so I thought I would bring you some. You do like chocolate, right?" she added.

"I love chocolate," Nathan assured her, as he took the box and looked through the transparent sides at the tasty treats it contained. "You made these for me?"

"Er, yeah. It's just a 'Get Well Soon', you know," she said, as if it was no big deal.

But it was. "Thank you, Haley. These look really good, and it means a lot to me."

She smiled and blushed simultaneously as she noticed that he had called her, "Haley", and it hadn't sounded quite as unnatural as it should have done, coming from his lips. "It's just brownies," she said quietly. "Do you want me to put them in the fridge for you?" she offered, wanting something to do.

"No, that's okay. My program's about to start so I'll them some now."

"Oh, okay. Um, what's your program?"

"Seinfeld. They're showing repeats."

"Oh, I love Seinfeld," she said immediately.

"Well, you're just in time," Nathan said, as Jerry appeared on their screens, doing his stand-up. Nathan opened the lid of the container and took a brownie out before offering one to Haley.

"Don't mind if I do," she replied with a smile, and took one out for herself. As Nathan put the container down on the bed in between them, Haley found herself watching him in anticipation as he took a bite out of the brownie. Only giving him time to chew for a few seconds Haley asked, "What do you think?"

He signaled that his mouth was full and finished swallowing his bite before answering, "It's really good," he grinned at her.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

"You bake a lot?" he inquired before taking another bite.

"Some things…mostly cake or brownies. But, not lots of different kinds of cakes, just different chocolate ones. You know, from basic chocolate to dark and milk chocolate. My favourite thing to bake is chocolate chip cake."

"Wow. Well, I'll have to try that sometime." Nathan grinned at her as he said it, and Haley found herself grinning back.

Both continued to just look at each other for a few moments, until they were jerked back to reality by the sound of laughter coming from the television. Nathan looked back at Haley, but she was concentrating on the television set, so he had no choice but to do the same.

As they watched the show, the silence between them resumed, but rather than awkward, it now felt comfortable, the both of them relaxing. They continued watching and eating brownies, until the commercial break started. It was easy to get sucked into the program, Haley realized, but not that easy to concentrate on the crummy adverts. She reached into the box for a brownie without looking, and accidentally brushed Nathan's hand. "Sorry," she said quickly, pulling her hand away.

"That's okay." Nathan held up the box and offered what turned out to be the last brownie to her. "You have it."

Haley shook her head. "No, they were for you. I shouldn't have eaten so many."

"I don't mind," Nathan said honestly. "You know what, here." He took the brownie and broke it in half. "Let's share."

"Okay. Thanks," Haley said as she took her piece from his hand.

Nathan just smiled and turned back to look at the TV screen as he resumed eating, but Haley played around with the food in her hands, and after a few moments Nathan noticed. "You don't like it?" he asked, jokingly. "'Cause I'll be happy to finish it for you."

Haley smiled half-heartedly, but then put the brownie into the empty box so her hands were free. "I think we need to talk."

"Um…about what?"

Haley sighed. "You know. About that night…outside my apartment."

"We don't really need to talk about that," Nathan said quickly.

"Nathan –"

"Hey, look," he pointed at the screen, "Seinfeld's back."

"Nathan!" When he didn't look at her, she decided to continue anyway. "Nathan, I'm sorry for what I said that night."

Nathan's shoulders gave a little shrug, although he didn't move his gaze from the television set. "You don't need to apologize for saying how you feel."

"I guess…that's true, but…" Haley took a deep breath, before finishing, "I didn't exactly say how I feel."

At that, Nathan's head turned and he took in the somewhat shy, nervous girl sitting next to him. "Well…how do you feel?" he forced himself to ask.

"I…confused, I guess. I mean, I suppose I did notice some things…between us," she said quietly. "But, I didn't really look at it seriously. I always thought…"

"That I was your student," he finished for her.

"Yeah."

"But, now you know I'm not…"

"I know. But that doesn't mean we can just jump into something!"

"Who said 'jump'?" Nathan asked, now turning his body slightly, so he faced her better. "I was thinking dinner or coffee. See each other outside school, for once. Was this," Nathan gestured around them, "so bad?"

"Well, no –"

"Okay, so –"

"But this was barely fifteen minutes, Nathan. It doesn't tell us anything."

"It tells me something. Look, Haley, if you don't want anything to do with me then what are you doing here?"

"I-I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"And that's it?" When she didn't reply, he prodded, "Haley, come on, you have to tell me something."

"I…no, not just that," she admitted, "but it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me. Look, Haley, I'm not your 'student' anymore and –"

"You're not going to be in Tree Hill anymore either, though, are you?" she interrupted. "You said it yourself, the case is over, and you live in Charleston. Don't you have to go back?"

"Uh…well, yeah. I suppose I do," Nathan said, finally.

"Right. So there's no point making a big deal out of this since it can't work anyway."

"Haley, Peyton and Jake are going to be apart too; they're not breaking up just because Jake's going back to Charleston."

"Peyton is moving to Charleston with him!" Haley exclaimed. "And since they've been dating for a while, they can make that kind of decision."

"Well, it's not my fault Jake got to be the teacher!" Nathan sputtered.

"I know that, but you can't start off a relationship long-distance, that'll never work."

"How do you know? Ever tried it?"

"No, but –"

"Well, you don't know if it could work then, do you?" Haley shook her head at what Nathan was saying, but before she could reply, he continued, "Look, I don't have to go back right away."

"You just said –"

"I said I have to go back; yes, that's true. But I don't have to go back tomorrow. Or even when Jake goes back. Because of my injury my boss is giving me extended leave."

"Well…" Haley stuttered, feeling as if she was losing steam, and fast, "for how long?"

"It depends on what the doctor says when I go see him tomorrow. We already did a set of tests, but he wanted to run them again, just to be sure. But, based on the first tests I did, about a month at least."

"A month? So, what, you're saying we try this for a month, and then we break up?"

"No, I'm just saying that we have a month to see what we want to do. And I know that I want to try this."

Haley squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think, but everything was so cluttered in her head.

"Don't say that it's too hard, Haley. Remember what you always told me, when you tutored me?" She opened her eyes and looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything. "You always said that, 'you can't say it's too hard if you haven't tried.' Now, I know that a relationship is not the same as writing an essay, but, I figure, what you said kind of applies to both," Nathan finished, and looked at Haley hopefully, who had a strange smile on her face.

She swallowed hard and then whispered, "You did listen to what I said."

Nathan laughed softly and then tucked a stray hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear. "Every word," he whispered back. And then he kissed her.


	43. Chapter 41

**A/N: Another update! I've decided that there will be about 4-5 chapters more of this story. I've finished Chapter 42 already, it is just being beta'd so that should be up soon!**

**Chapter Forty-One**

Haley's initial reaction to Nathan's kiss was that she shouldn't be kissing him. They still hadn't come to any sort of agreement and she was someone who liked to have everything sorted and a decision made. That way, she wasn't thinking about what she hadn't done while she was doing something else. But it was so hard to keep thinking logically when he was kissing her. Nathan was a really good kisser. He had such soft lips…

Suddenly, something rough and scratchy brushed the bottom of her lip and she pulled away to see what it was. "Oh, Nathan, you have a cut," she noticed, trailing her finger gently along the line beneath his lower lip that was grazed.

"It's nothing," he whispered, and started placing chaste kisses along the side of her face.

"But…mmmm…we have to talk," Haley stated, twining her fingers in his hair.

Nathan pouted against her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist. "But I prefer doing this," he demonstrated by kissing her shoulder.

"I'm sure you do, but I…oh…I need…we need to finish talking."

Nathan sighed but pulled his head up and looked at her expectantly. Haley made to move back, but he only pulled her closer and maneuvered her so she was sitting on his lap. "We can talk, but you're not going anywhere."

Haley grinned briefly then twisted her head so she could look up at him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Nathan replied without hesitating.

"You still have to go back to Charleston when your leave is –"

"We'll figure that out later," Nathan assured her. When all Haley did was nod quietly, Nathan asked, "Are you sure?"

Haley took a deep breath and smiled. A minute ago she would have said that she didn't know; that they still didn't really know each other well enough to be certain. But now, sitting on Nathan's lap, with his arms around her and her head against his chest, she just felt so comfortable. Like she never wanted to be anywhere else; like she was safe. And she had never had that feeling before. "Yes," she answered, "I'm sure."

* * *

When Lucas walked out of the shower the first thing he did was check his watch to make sure he would be ready for Brooke's arrival. Glancing at the time, he put the watch back down, but then did a double-take; it displayed the same time it had when he had gotten into the shower. He picked up the watch again, and upon closer inspection realized that the hand wasn't moving, and his watch had in fact stopped. He fished out his phone from inside his jeans, and looked at the numbers on the display screen: it was now twenty minutes past the time Brooke said she would be there!

He pressed her number on his speed dial, only after which he realized she would be waiting for him downstairs. However, she picked up before the second ring. "Hey Broody! I'm sorry I'm late-"

"You're late?" He said it as a question, but Brooke didn't realize that.

"I know, I'm really sorry, but there was this huge traffic jam! Someone had an accident at the top of my road and you have no idea how long I was there for! I almost went back to my house to put the car in the garage and walk it, but then some cars joined the queue behind me and I had to just wait," Brooke went on. "I hope you're not mad."

"Nope, not mad at all. How much longer do you think you'll be?"

"Not that much actually. I'm about two blocks away from your house."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Bye."

Lucas quickly changed and found the movie they were going to watch so he could take it downstairs with him. He had just put the DVD case on top of the living room television when the doorbell rang. He jogged over to the door and opened it for his girlfriend, who was standing there with her hands on her hips and a big smile on her face. "Miss me?"

Lucas chuckled. "You know it."

He leaned down to give her a sweet kiss, which Brooke returned as she slid her arms across his back. Lucas hooked his fingers into the loops around the waistband of her three quarter jeans to pull her towards him, slanting his mouth over hers to kiss her more deeply. Brooke sighed and kissed him back for a few moments more before pulling back. "I think we should probably take the rest of this inside," she grinned as she told him.

Lucas flushed as he realized they had been on the verge of making out in their doorway with the door wide open for everyone outside to see. He stood back so that Brooke could come in, but as he did so he realized it was nearly half past the hour already. "Hey, I brought the DVD downstairs, would you mind popping it into the player while I go remind Nathan about his meds?"

Brooke nodded. "Sure."

She scooted off to the living room, while Lucas went to the downstairs guest room, where Nathan was staying. Without knocking, he opened the door, saying "Hey, Nate–" but cutting himself off when he realized that his cousin had company.

There was some girl sitting on Nathan's lap, who he was involved in a very heated kiss with, but at the sound of Lucas' voice they both broke away and looked towards the door, and it was a minor miracle that Lucas didn't fall from the shock. Rather than that, or gauge his eyes out, which was his second choice, Lucas turned around quite sharply and closed his eyes tight. When that created disgusting mental images in his head, he stared through the open door into the hallway.

"Hey, Luke," Nathan said uncomfortably to his cousin's back.

"H-Hey, Nathan. Uh, Miss James," he choked out. "I just came to remind you to take your meds."

"Thanks, I'll do that."

Lucas would have liked to just walk out of there right then, but there was a burning question in his head, that he couldn't help but ask. "So, er, you two are…I mean have you been?"

"We're going out," Nathan stated.

"Okay. Right. Erm…"

"We haven't been –"

"No, no, that's okay, no details necessary," Lucas said quickly and then ran back down the hallway.

Inside the guest room, Haley looked up at Nathan who had an amused look on his face. "I think that went well."

* * *

Brooke had just returned from the kitchen where she had fetched herself a drink and sat down on the couch, when Lucas returned, looking…actually, Brooke couldn't quite place the look. "Nathan okay?"

Lucas nodded vigorously, but didn't make any move to sit down or come further into the living room.

"What happened?"

Lucas shook his head in disbelief and made a few hand gestures before finally saying, "I walked in there and I found him…making out!"

Brooke's nose crinkled. "Making out? What do you mean; he can't exactly make out with himself," she laughed and then almost choked on her drink, when she thought she had realized what Lucas was trying to say. "Ew! Lucas that is gross! Why did you tell me that! I don't want to know Nathan's little boy habits!"

"Huh? What do you – oh Brooke!" Lucas said, disgusted himself.

"You started it!"

"I didn't say Nathan was making out with himself! He wasn't!"

"Well, then who's in there with him?"

"Miss James!" Lucas exclaimed.

To Lucas' surprise a huge grin broke out across Brooke's face. "Really?" she asked, excitedly.

"Hey…did you know about them?" Lucas demanded.

"Well, I –"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that they were dating!"

"They weren't, Lucas! All I knew was that Nathan had sort of a crush on her, and that wasn't because he told me, I figured it out for myself," she added.

"How did you figure it out?"

"It was pretty obvious, Luke."

"From what?"

"Lots of things!" Before he could ask, she clarified, "Like the way he was always looking at her –"

"Everyone looks at the teacher in class when she's talking."

Brooke was hardly able to restrain a laugh. "No, Luke, they don't. And the ones like you who do take lots of notes; Nathan hardly ever took any. Lucas, honey, if Nathan likes her, what does it matter? Stop being such a girl about it and just watch the movie with me, okay?"

Grumpily Lucas agreed and sat down next to Brooke on the couch. Having already put the DVD in, Brooke pressed play on the remote and snuggled up next to the side.

Lucas caught no more than a flicker of the menu screen, but as soon as the credits started he frowned. "Brooke, this isn't the movie."

"I know. I found this one at home when I was getting ready and I thought we could watch it instead so I brought it with me."

"Another chick flick?"

Brooke gave him her sweetest smile.

Lucas groaned. "Brooke."

"I promise you'll like it –"

"That's what you always say and I never –"

"Please?" Brooke asked, dragging out the word, pouting at her boyfriend.

Lucas sighed heavily. "Once this ends, we're watching my movie."

"Deal. Thank you, boyfriend." She quickly kissed the corner of his mouth as a show of appreciation. "And if you're a good boy throughout the film, you can expect more of what happened on the porch after," she teased, but was shocked beyond belief when Lucas sort of frowned. "What? You don't want to make out?" she asked incredulously.

"It's just…"

"Oh My God. Don't tell me you can't make out because your teacher is in the house!"

"No, it's not that. It's just that they're…" When Brooke looked at him expectantly, he finished, "Well, they're making out!"

"Oh, good grief!"

"Well –"

"Come on," Brooke stated, and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Without replying, she started marching to the guest room and Lucas quickly ran after her. "Brooke!" he exclaimed when she knocked on the bedroom door.

There were a few moments scrambling before thy heard someone clear their throat and say, "Come in."

Although Lucas was trying to pull her away, Brooke swiftly turned the knob and walked inside, leaving him to sulk in the doorway. Nathan and Miss James were both on the bed, but fully dressed and sitting on opposite sides of it. Brooke couldn't help the small smile on her face at the sight of their somewhat disheveled appearances, and the messy bedspread. _Way to go Nate,_ she thought.

"Hi," Brooke said sweetly.

"Hello, Brooke," Nathan muttered, his displeasure obvious, while Haley gave her an embarrassed smile.

"I don't know if Nathan told you," she said to her teacher, "but Lucas and I were staying in because he's not supposed to be left alone – well, I don't know if the Doctor said so, but Karen didn't want him to be."

"Oh, uh, yeah, he told me," Haley replied.

"Well, see, there was somewhere I wanted to go today," Brooke said, not a complete lie, since there had been, but she hadn't minded staying in either, "and I was wondering if maybe, now that you're here, you could stay with Nathan, just while Lucas takes me there. That is, if you haven't got plans for today," she added.

Nathan looked over at Haley expectantly, waiting for her answer. "No, I don't have plans."

"So, you can stay?"

Haley smiled. "Yeah. You guys have fun."

"Thanks!" she said cheerfully, and skipped back to the door where Lucas was waiting. "See you two in a few hours. Don't do anything Lucas and I wouldn't do," she said in a mock-stern voice to Nathan, who chuckled, while Lucas blushed profusely.

After Brooke closed the door, Lucas stared at her. "Hey, I got us out of here, now you don't need to be around while your cousin and your teacher get smoochy with one another," she explained, walking down the corridor.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to say that!"

Brooke grinned at him as picked up her jacket from the rack. "Are you embarrassed?"

"Of course I am!"

"Well, it's good for you. Now, come on, put your coat on and let's go!"

Lucas grumbled, but did as told and followed his girlfriend out the door.

* * *

Nathan grinned at Haley the moment the door closed. "So…it looks like it's just the two of us," he stated, giving Haley a very suggestive wink.

She blushed, but returned his smirk. "Don't go getting any ideas. I am here just to take care of you."

"Oh, yeah? 'Cause you know," he began, as he lay back down on the bed, "I think I need a check-up."

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, and playfully slapped his shoulder. When Nathan winced, she put her hand on her mouth. "Oh, Nathan, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your shoulder, is it bad?" She moved so that she was lying next to him, so she could get a better look.

"It's perfect, now," he smirked, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Oh, Nathan," Haley chided, but didn't make any move away from him. She was feeling pretty perfect right then as well.


	44. Chapter 42

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews:)**

**Chapter Forty-Two**

On Saturday Nathan had a doctor's appointment, which his uncle Keith drove him to since Lucas had basketball practice. Unfortunately, the coach was taking out his anger over finding out another boy had taken drugs by making the others work even harder before the Ravens became the laughing stock of all North Carolina.

When they were coming back Nathan didn't notice the car parked in their driveway until Keith pointed it out to him, but when he recognized it as Jake's he realized his friend had decided to pay him another visit. Keith got Nathan's crutches out of the back seat and handed them to Nathan as he got down from the car. "Are you sure you don't need me to help you get into the house?" he checked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I can manage."

"Okay, well call me if you need anything."

"I'll be fine, Uncle Keith. Lucas will be home from basketball practice now, and it looks like Jake is here as well, so don't worry."

"I know, but your mother made me promise you would be well looked after."

Nathan laughed. "I will be."

"Okay, I have to get some things sorted out at work, but tell Lucas I will see you boys for dinner."

"Will do, Uncle Keith," he told him, before Keith got into the car and drove up. Nathan managed to reach the front door easier than he did the day he came home from hospital, and he was glad that he could feel the improvement, even if it was just slight. Putting one crutch up against the door, he was about to ring the bell when the front door swung open. "Jake!"

"Hey, man. Thought I heard a car outside. Need some help?"

"I can manage, but thanks," Nathan told him as he came inside the house. "What are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate the visit, but I thought you said that you were meeting Peyton's Dad for lunch today."

"I am, and we have to leave soon, but we thought we'd just drop in and see how you were doing first."

"We?"

"Yeah; me, Peyton and –"

"Nathan!" a female voice exclaimed from the hallway.

Nathan turned and his face lit up into a grin when he saw his girlfriend coming towards him. _Girlfriend,_ he thought to himself. Yep, he definitely liked calling her that.

Haley came up to him and gave him a hug. "Hey! How'd your appointment go? What did the doctor say? Are you feeling better? Oh my gosh, shouldn't you be sitting down or something, Nathan?" she rambled, causing Nathan to grin even more.

"One question at a time, Haley," he laughed.

"Right, sorry."

"That's okay," he assured her. "And I feel fine; the doctor said I was making good progress."

"That's great!" Haley said, walking next to him as they headed back to his room.

When they got there, Peyton was sitting on a chair changing channels on the television. She and Nathan had officially met two days ago when Jake had come to visit him; she seemed quite different to the girls Jake had dated before, but they seemed happy, plus she was Haley's best friend, so Nathan hadn't wasted an opportunity to score some brownie points.

Jake took Nathan's crutches so he could sit back on the bed, and Haley sat down next to him. "Have you guys been here long?" Nathan asked.

Jake shook his head, as he sat down at the foot of the bed, near where Peyton's chair was. "About twenty minutes maybe," Peyton said.

"Sorry, you had to wait."

"It's okay," Jake assured him. "Lucas let us in so it's not like we had to wait in the car or anything."

"Do you want a pillow for your knee, Nathan?" Haley wondered, and without waiting for his answer she took one from behind her head and propped his knee up on it, before she moved back to the headboard to fluff up the pillows his head resting was on.

"Haley," Nathan chuckled, "I'm fine, really."

"But you might be uncomfortable because of your knee and your wound and –"

"I'm very comfortable, now you, come 'ere," he reached out for her hand and pulled her to sit on her side, leaning against him, draping his arm lazily across her back while Haley nuzzled her head into his chest.

Jake glanced at Peyton. "Were we ever this sickening?"

"God, no!"

"Er, actually," Haley piped up, "I was there, and you _were_."

Peyton and Jake both made faces, causing Nathan to laugh, and Haley, her cheek still on his chest, decided that she liked the way it felt.

Peyton glanced at her watch, and said, "We should probably get going. Dad doesn't like it when people are late."

Jake nodded. "See ya, Nate," he said, standing up. "I'll come by later."

"Don't worry about it," Nathan told him.

"Of course, I worry. If something happens to you, who am I going to fight crime with?"

Peyton, Jake and Nathan all laughed at the comment, but Haley just managed a smile. After they said goodbye to their friends, who let themselves out, Nathan looked down at Haley.

"Are you okay?"

She gave him a curious look. "Am I okay? You're the patient here."

"You just seem a little…"

Haley sighed and moved a little bit out of his embrace. "You'll think I'm being stupid."

"I would never think that."

"Well, I…I guess Jake just reminded me that you'll be going back to Charleston, and I don't like to think about that."

"Hales, that's not for a while yet."

"I know, but before we realize it time is just going to fly by and not only will I have to say goodbye to you, but to Peyton too, and it just sucks because I'm going to be all alone here," she finished sadly.

"Aw, Haley…" Nathan reached out tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "We'll figure something out."

She didn't say anything at first, but after a moment she nodded and moved back next to him.

"Hey, how will you get home?"

"Peyton said she'll call me when their thing with her Dad finishes, but she's not sure of the time. Otherwise, I'll just call a cab."

"You don't have to do that," Nathan told her.

"You're in no state to drive," she reminded him.

"Lucas could probably drive you home."

"I'm sure Lucas would do it if you forced him too, but I think he'd rather not. And, really, a cab is fine."

"Or…you could just not go back," Nathan suggested, smirking. "You know, spend the night."

"Oh, Lucas would love that."

Nathan laughed. "Okay, he wouldn't. But, I would."

Haley grinned, despite her blush. "You know the doctor told you that you can't…you know, for a little while." Nathan groaned at the reminder, just as Haley realized, "Hey, you never finished saying what the doctor said today."

"Well, I need some therapy, but my knee isn't that bad and as long as I don't strain it I should be able to get off the crutches soon."

"No more walking about for you," Haley told him immediately.

Nathan replied with, "Yes, Miss James," and he grinned when she blushed slightly at that.

"Oh, and he said I can take a bath."

Haley wrinkled her nose. "When was the last time you had one?"

Nathan pretended to think about it. "Er…about a week ago?"

"Ew!" Haley exclaimed and moved back to the other side of the bed, but Nathan sat up and put his arms around her so she couldn't get away. "Nathan!" she squealed.

"Yes?"

"You smell! Go have a bath!" she ordered him, between giggles.

"I didn't hear you complaining before," he whispered in her ear, and she laughed again as she squirmed in his grasp. Chuckling, Nathan finally let go of her, not that Haley made much effort to get further away once he did.

"Would you like me to run you a bath?" she offered.

"Actually, that would be pretty good. Any chance of you accompanying me in the bath?" Haley gasped at him, before shaking her head and moving to get down from it. "It's not a ridiculous question; I'm still recovering, I wont be able to reach everywhere," he justified, causing Haley to throw a pillow at him before going into the adjoining bathroom.

Nathan laughed, and took his time stretching before moving to sit upright, with his legs over the side of the bed. He had just finished unbuttoning the three buttons on the collared t-shirt he was wearing, and was trying to pull it off when Haley re-entered the room.

"The water was hot, so your bath's nearly ready," she told him.

"Thanks. Do you think you could give me a hand over here?" Haley scoffed and was about to protest when Nathan continued, "No, seriously. I'm having a little trouble getting this over my head because when I put my arms like that it pulls at my stitches."

Haley immediately snapped to and walked over to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here." She took the hem of his shirt in her hands and slowly but surely tugged it over his head. Once she had managed that, she rolled it into a ball in her hands and was about to place it on the bed, when a now shirtless Nathan stood up, presumably to go to the bathroom, putting his upper chest in her direct line of vision.

Haley had been taught that it was impolite to stare, and therefore never did, but somehow she couldn't not look. It wasn't like she hadn't seen a man's naked chest before, of course she had. It was just that none of her previous boyfriends had been quite so…built. _Boy, was he built, _she thought to herself_. And…is that a nipple ring?_

Nathan, fully aware that she was staring at his chest, smirked. "Like what you see?" he asked her, causing a blush to spread on Haley's cheeks as she realized she'd been caught.

She looked up, not quite meeting his gaze, and opened her mouth to speak, but was having trouble coming up with something witty to throw back at him. She glanced around to avoid his eyes and, in doing so, noticed something on the lower part of his stomach, just above the waistband of his shorts, that she had missed before.

Haley gasped at the sight of his scar. "Nathan, that looks awful," she exclaimed, taking in the size of it.

"Thanks," he said, wryly.

Ignoring him, she reached a hand out to touch it, but only kept it there for a second before pulling back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," she apologized.

"You didn't hurt me." He took her hand in his and guided it back to his stomach. "You couldn't."

Haley smiled sweetly at him, before voicing her concern. "Are you sure that it's okay?"

"The doctor said it was healing right on schedule."

"Okay," Haley conceded, "but don't go straining yourself."

"I'm only going to have a bath. Although, it does hurt when I bend," he admitted.

"I put the shampoo and soap and everything where it'll be easy for you to reach so don't worry about that."

"Thanks," Nathan said, and he spared a moment to flash her a smile because he was touched she had thought of that, before he returned to what he had planned to say, "But, I think I'm going to need help with my shorts too."

To his surprise, Haley smiled and took a step towards him. "Aw, you can't get them off on your own?" she pouted.

Nathan shook his head solemnly. "It's been really difficult getting changed everyday."

"Lucas!" Haley yelled.

Nathan's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"What?" she looked at him innocently. "You said you needed help changing; I'm sure your cousin will be happy to help."

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, really."

She grinned and had begun to move away when Nathan grabbed her waist. Caught off balance, she fell against him, accidentally pushing Nathan back onto the bed, with her on top of him, causing Nathan's breath to leave his lungs with a "woosh".

Nathan winced in pain since part of Haley was weighing down on his wound.

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed as she braced her elbows on either side of him, so that she wasn't leaning on him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, but she could tell it still pained him slightly.

"See, this is why you shouldn't grab people!"

Nathan pouted at her. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Yes, it was," she said sternly, but couldn't help laughing at the look on his face.

At that point, the half closed door swung open wider. "Hey, did you call –" Lucas stopped abruptly when he saw his half naked cousin and his teacher straddling him on all fours.

"Sorry, we were having a bit of a problem, but it's fine now," Nathan said, as if there was nothing weird going on.

"Okay. I'll go back to my room and let you…okay," Lucas repeated and practically ran back up the stairs.

"Why is it that we keep getting caught in these situations?" Haley groaned, as she moved so that she was lying next to him.

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't keep your hands off of me." When Haley scoffed, Nathan added, "Plus, you were the one that called him."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just go have your bath before the water gets cold."

"So, you're using your teacher voice on me now, huh?"

"What! I am not!" Haley exclaimed.

"That's okay; it's kind of hot."

Haley blushed furiously. "Nathan!"

"Yes, Miss James?"

Haley groaned and put her hands on her face.

Chuckling, Nathan informed her, "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."

He moved her hands away and kissed her nose, causing Haley to grin despite her embarrassment. "I wouldn't dream of it."


	45. Chapter 43

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

**Chapter Forty-Three**

Haley was standing outside the main entrance to her apartment building getting ready to say goodbye. She knew she had to be strong, but she was more upset than she had thought she would be.

Her relationship with Nathan had blossomed in no time at all. They had yet to go out on a proper date, owing to the fact that he hadn't gotten off the crutches too long ago and both she and Karen, who Haley was quickly bonding with as well, hadn't wanted him to strain himself. He had reluctantly agreed so they had spent most of their time at his uncle's house, apart from the one time she showed him around her apartment and they accidentally walked in on Jake as he was coming out of the shower. Haley managed to suppress a giggle, but couldn't help the smile that spread on her face at that memory.

"What's funny?"

Haley looked over at Nathan who was making sure all the bags fit in the trunk of the car and shook her head. "Nothing."

He gave her a curious look, but then shook his head and returned to his task.

Jake was going back to Charleston. His two weeks of leave had passed and now he had to go back to work. Haley and Nathan were waiting downstairs while Peyton and Jake made sure he had got all of his stuff that had been at their apartment, where he had practically lived once he and Peyton had reunited.

Although she would be joining Jake in Charleston in a little more than a month, Haley knew that Peyton would be upset and she'd have to be there for her friend to lean on, but Jake's departure was reminding her only too well of Nathan's imminent one. Despite their relationship developing, she and Nathan had yet to discuss their future. He liked to avoid serious talks, and always told her that they would work things out. Well, she didn't see how they would work out if they didn't do something about them, and she was tired of ignoring it.

However, she still didn't know what to say to him. She didn't want him to leave, but could she ask him to stay? Would he? She could go with him to Charleston, but was that what she really wanted? It was different for Peyton because she hadn't grown up in Tree Hill like Haley had. Tree Hill was her home. She had never even been to Charleston before. What if she went with him just because she didn't want to be left alone and she ended up hating it there and resenting him for taking her there.

Haley knew she was over thinking things – they were, after all, only two weeks into their relationship – but that was just in her nature.

At that moment Peyton and Jake came down, interrupting her thoughts. They were holding hands and Peyton had her head resting slightly against Jake's shoulder.

"Anything else to put in the trunk?" Nathan asked him.

Jake shook his head. "Nah, that's everything. Thanks, man."

"No problem," Nathan told him and proceeded to close the trunk.

Jake checked his watch and sighed.

"I guess this is really it, then," Peyton said.

Jake turned so he could look at her. "You know I'd love to stay longer, but if I leave any later I won't be able to drop into the station tonight like I promised –"

"It's okay," Peyton assured him, putting on a brave face.

"Now, remember Charleston isn't really that far away. You can always call me, or come down for the weekend –"

"I'll probably take you up on that, you know."

"I hope you do," Jake said with a smile. He brought his hand to her cheek. "It's not going to be that long before the semester's over and you can come to Charleston and then we can be together for as long as we want."

"I can't wait."

"Me neither."

Peyton put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, which he reciprocated. Although Nathan and Haley were still in the area, they hung back letting their friends have a moment to themselves.

"I love you," Jake whispered in her ear.

Peyton moved back only slightly so she could look into his eyes. "I love you too."

Finally, they broke apart and Jake went over to Haley and Nathan to say goodbye. Haley came forward to give him a hug. "Take care of yourself, Jake."

"You too. And take care of Peyton – and while you're at it make sure Nathan doesn't go getting himself injured again."

They all laughed, as Haley responded, "I will."

Then, Jake went over to Nathan and the two engaged in a manly handshake, which ended with them giving each other a good pat on the back.

A few goodbyes and well wishes, plus a final hug with Peyton, later, and Jake was in his car, driving back to Charleston. The three of them stayed on the pavement watching him drive away until his car was no longer visible.

Haley put her arm around Peyton who smiled her thanks. "Let's go inside."

Peyton nodded and started inside while Haley moved to talk to Nathan. "Do you want to come in or…"

"Nah, I'll go back to the house. Let you and Peyton hang out a bit."

"Thanks."

"We're still on for tonight, right?" he asked.

There was a carnival in town and Nathan had thought that it would be fun to go there for their first official date. Haley had thought so too, but now she wasn't so sure that she felt like leaving Peyton, not tonight.

"Um, actually, do you think maybe we could take a rain check on that?" When Nathan looked confused, she explained "It's just I think maybe I should spend tonight with Peyton. The carnival will still be there tomorrow, right?"

"Er, yeah, it'll be there tomorrow."

"Is that okay?" Haley checked, because Nathan didn't seem as nonplussed about it as he sounded.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, it's fine."

"It's just that I think Peyton needs some girl time right now," Haley explained. "But I promise tomorrow we'll have our first real date." She looked up at him with a pleading smile on her face, and Nathan couldn't help but smile back.

"It's okay, Haley. You two have fun. I'll just miss you. That's all."

She grinned and put her hands around his neck. "You'll see me tomorrow night," she pointed out.

"And how many days have we spent apart since we got together?"

Haley laughed remembering. "Good point." She stood on her tip-toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Call me later," she told him and was about to move away when he put his hands on her hips to hold her in place.

"Hey, if I'm not going to get to see you for more than 24 hours then you have to give me a better kiss than that."

Haley laughed, but conceded when he began to kiss her and pulled her body closer to his. Minutes later, Haley pulled away, sighing as she did so. "I should go in."

"Okay. I'll call you tonight," Nathan promised. He bent down and brushed his lips against the side of her cheek.

"Bye."

"Bye," Nathan replied before going over to his uncle's car that he had driven over. Haley waved him goodbye and went back inside the apartment block, stopping short when she found Peyton near the main entrance, by the elevators.

"Peyt! I thought you had gone back inside."

"I was waiting for you. I was waiting outside, but then when you two started getting gropey I thought it might be in my benefit to come in."

"We weren't getting gropey!" Haley exclaimed, as they walked to the elevators.

"You kind of were. Any second there I thought his hand was going to land on your ass and that was not something I wanted to see."

Haley blushed. "Nathan would never do that when we were standing out in the middle of the street!"

"So, he does that when you're not in the street? There are limits on what I want to know you get up to, Hales."

Haley groaned. "Why don't we just end this conversation here?"

"Fine by me," Peyton informed her, punching the button on the lift to take them to their floor. "But, hey, I kind of overheard you cancelling your date tonight. You don't have to do that, Hales. I'm not a baby."

"Of course you're not. I just thought that it would be fun to spend some time together. We've both been spending a lot of time with our boyfriends lately and I'm not complaining or anything; I mean, I totally understand you wanting to spend time with Jake before he goes. I just think it'll be nice if we have today together - just the two of us."

"Like old times."

"Exactly."

"So, you're not just doing this because you feel sorry for me and want to keep my mind off Jake?"

"I just want to spend some time with my best friend. You know, a day for just us girls."

Peyton grinned as the elevator door's opened onto their floor. "Sounds like fun; as long as you give me a little break from the girls' only time to talk to Jake when he calls."

"Only if you do the same for me when Nathan calls."

"Oh, God," Peyton said stopping outside their door.

"What?" Haley asked. "Can't you remember where you put the key?"

"No," Peyton said, laughing. "I just realized that we're turning into those girls who have nothing better to do than wait for their boyfriends to call!"


	46. Chapter 44

**A/N: No, I haven't forgotten about this story, I've just been busy with real life a lot lately and I've been working on my other stories as well. But, here's the update, finally – only two chapters left! **

**Chapter Forty-Four**

"Let's go play that game next! No, that one over there! Do you think we should get sweets before or after the next game? Oh my gosh, Broody, you have to have a go at that game!"

Lucas followed the direction his girlfriend was pointing before shaking his head vehemently. "No way, Brooke."

"Aw, come on! What's the point of us coming to a carnival if you won't play the games?" Brooke whined.

"I will play the games. Just not that one."

"Why not?" she pouted.

"Because the only guys who play that one are show-offs who just do it to prove that they're strong enough to hit the thing hard enough to make the bell clang."

Brooke put her hands on her hips and eyed him suspiciously. "And you're not strong enough to do it, eh?"

"I-of course I can," he sputtered.

"Then prove it."

"No, no; you're just trying to trick me into playing it."

"Please, Lucas?"

"Why do you want me to play it so much?" he wondered.

"Well…if you must know…I think it's a total turn-on," she said breathily.

"Brooke."

"I want the teddy bear prize! It's so cute!" she exclaimed.

Lucas sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll try."

"Thank you!" Brooke squealed, and hugged him tightly, before peppering kisses on his cheek. "If you hit it I'll name the bear Broody after you," she told him, grinning.

Lucas chuckled. "Well, I'll take that as a compli…" he stopped mid-sentence, frowning in the direction of the game in question.

"What is it? Cold feet already?"

"Uh, no, it's just I think that guy over there won your teddy bear already."

"What!" Turning her head, Brooke saw that a man had indeed won the teddy bear and was handing it to his thrilled female companion. "She got Broody, Broody! That's not fair. See if you had gone and played it instead of complaining I would have got it!"

"It looks like there are still some other prizes there," Lucas tried to reason with her.

"I don't want a stupid turtle. I wanted the bear." Brooke folded her arms and pouted. "Let's do something else now," she said, one moment later.

"A different game?"

"Not a game; I want to ride the ferris wheel."

"Er…"

"What now!" she exclaimed.

"Are you sure there aren't any other rides you'd rather go on? Like that rollercoaster over there?"

"Let me get this straight. My boyfriend, who is 18 years old by the way, wants to go on a rollercoaster but is scared of a ferris wheel?"

"I'm not scared of the ferris wheel! I just really don't like heights."

"The rollercoaster goes high too! It even takes you upside down!"

"But it moves really fast so you're not there for long. The ferris wheel suspends you and everything."

Brooke sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at him. As she looked around she spotted two familiar faces among the crowd, although neither saw her since they were too wrapped up in each other. She smiled to herself, attracting Lucas' attention, who followed her gaze.

"Oh. I thought the carnival would be big enough for us to avoid them," Lucas muttered.

"Lucas! He's your cousin!"

"And she's my teacher! Why am I the only one who is seeing the ickyness in this?"

Brooke looked back at Haley and Nathan who were aimlessly strolling through the carnival grounds. His arm was draped around her shoulders, while she was eating candy floss.

"I think they look cute."

At that moment Haley broke off a piece of the candy floss and fed it to Nathan.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Rolling her eyes once more, Brooke reminded Lucas, "Well, you wouldn't have had to see them here, if we had come any of the other nights the carnival was open, but no, you were the one who kept cancelling, and now today is the last night it's here!"

"Brooke, you know how coach has been insane with extra practices lately. I was too tired to even eat some nights."

"We could have come last night, though. You didn't have practice yesterday"

"I thought they were coming yesterday. That's what Nathan told me before; I didn't know until this morning that they hadn't gone."

"Are you going to spend your whole life trying to avoid seeing them together as a couple?"

"No, just until Nathan goes back to Charlotte."

"Oh, yeah," Brooke remembered. "But what about Miss James?"

"I don't know," Lucas shrugged. "So, about that ferris wheel?" he mentioned, trying to steer her away from their current conversation.

"Yes?"

"I'll give it a try," he conceded.

"Yay!" she squealed, and clapped her hands excitedly.

"Okay." Lucas took Brooke's hand and started to lead her in the direction of the ferris wheel. "But if we get suspended right at the top and I have to close my eyes, you can't laugh or anything," he warned.

Brooke giggled. "You're such a girl sometimes, Lukie." When he frowned, she continued, "But, it's okay, I love you anyway."

Lucas practically froze in his place, and it was only after that that Brooke realized what she had just let out, completely by accident.

"I, um," she stuttered.

"Hey, look, there's the Ferris wheel!" Lucas pointed out, and dragged her towards it without another word.

As they walked Nathan looked down to his left at his girlfriend whose eyes were wondering round the carnival. "So, are you having fun?"

Haley squeezed his hand, which she was now holding since she had finished with her candy floss, and flashed him a smile. "Lots, thank you."

"Hey, come on." Nathan nudged Haley using their combined hands. "Something's on your mind. What is it?"

Haley sighed. "I'm just…thinking about Peyton," she half-lied.

"I thought you said she was fine. And I know Jake called her last night when he arrived; he told me so when he called me this morning."

"Yeah, he did. She's okay, just…adjusting."

"Well, it shouldn't take her too long," Nathan said encouragingly. "She is going to move there in a few weeks."

"Yeah, she is. You know, I think that we should talk…" Haley began.

However, Nathan's attention had been caught by one of the stalls near to them and he didn't catch her second sentence. "Hey, have you ever played that?"

"Huh?" Haley looked at the stall in question and frowned. "The game where you knock down the bottles with a tennis ball? Yeah, I've seen it at school carnivals and stuff. I was never really good at, though. I might have mentioned it before; coordination's not really my thing. Why do you ask?" Haley wondered.

Nathan simply said, "Watch," before taking her by the hand and leading her to the stall.

Haley didn't have time to react before they reached the stall and Nathan let go of her hand, informing the boy attending the stall that he wanted to play. Haley watched curiously as the boy collected the three tennis balls and placed them in front of Nathan while he fished a dollar bill out of his wallet.

"So, you think you're some sort of expert at this game?" Haley conjectured.

Nathan glanced at Haley, giving her a knowing look. Then, wordlessly, he picked up the first ball and threw it at the pile, resulting in knocking them all down. He smiled triumphantly at Haley, "Looks like I haven't lost my touch after all."

"I'm guessing you used to have a lot of practice at this game," she commented.

Nathan nodded. "It paid off though. I was champion of it in junior high."

"Junior high?"

"What's so funny?" Nathan wondered when she started laughing.

"Well, nothing, except that I didn't think that you were so uncool that you were still spending all your time playing games like this when you were that old," Haley told him, resuming her laughter.

"Uncool?" Nathan repeated before immediately starting to tickle her sides, causing Haley to squeal.

"Ahem."

Haley pushed Nathan away from her abruptly when the obviously uncomfortable attendant cleared his throat, clutching a teddy bear in his hands. "Here's your prize," he told them, handing it to Nathan.

"Thanks," Nathan replied, taking it from him, leading Haley away from the booth as he gave it to her.

"For me?" she exclaimed in her best girly voice.

"You think I'm going to keep it?"

"Well, I don't know; I'm worried I may find even more skeletons in your closet."

"I'm not the one with a teddy bear named Mr. Waffles," Nathan reminded her.

"Did you just make fun of Mr. Waffles?" Haley exclaimed for real this time.

Nathan chuckled. "I would never make fun of Mr. Waffles."

"Good," Haley stated, hugging the bear to her chest. "Now he can have a female companion."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, curiously. "It's a girl bear?"

"Hello. Did you not see her pink ribbon?"

Nathan just shrugged. "Men wear pink ties."

"So?"

"So just because it has a pink ribbon, it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a girl. Guys wearing pink ties would be kind of the same thing."

"Do you wear pink ties?"

"No!" Nathan exclaimed.

"I think you'd look cute in a pink tie," Haley contemplated. "With a black shirt and…"

"Not even for you," Nathan said pointedly.

"Oh, well, I suppose I'll have to make do," Haley sing-songed, taking the bear into her left hand so she could hold Nathan's with her right once more.

"So do you want to go on a ride next or a booth?" Nathan wondered.

"Actually…could we talk first?" Haley said finally.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Us."

"Okay, that's not good," Nathan said, slowing down his steps. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's not bad. I just – whenever I bring up Charlotte you always say that's ages away, but I've been thinking about it a lot and I've come to a decision."

"You have?"

"I've decided that I want to come to Charlotte with you."

"Oh." Nathan stopped short and glanced around, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh? That's all you have to say?"

"I guess we should have talked about this before-"

"You don't want me to go with you?" Haley said, slowly, sounding an awful lot too whiny to her own ears, but couldn't help it.

"Actually, I had sort of decided that I would stay in Tree Hill."

"S-stay? As in…"

"As in move here," Nathan explained.

"B-but why?" Haley asked, before she could stop herself, to which Nathan couldn't help but chuckle.

"Because you're here. Although if you're moving to Charlotte that could be a problem," he joked.

"You know what I mean! What about your family – and your mom! And-"

"Actually, that's kind of the reason I hadn't mentioned it before now. I like it here, and it's not like I couldn't work here either, but I wasn't sure about leaving Mom alone there."

"And now?"

"Well, when she came back from Charlotte the last time she went she said she was thinking about opening up a branch of Karen's Café here so she'd have to divide her time between the two. It wasn't finalized then, but it was today so –"

"Well, why didn't you tell me all this before!" Haley demanded

"Because I wasn't sure how you'd react – we haven't really been going out that long and I didn't know if –" Nathan got cut off when Haley put her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. He reciprocated the kiss, pulling her close so that her body lines up against his. When they moved apart for air, Nathan grinned down at her. "Well, I take it you're pleased, then?"

She grinned back, rubbing her nose against his. "Very."

"I'm glad. Now, I just have to find a place to stay."

"Well, you know…I, um, heard there's a vacancy coming up in my apartment building soon…"

"I'll make a note."


	47. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty-Five**

_Some weeks later…_

Brooke checked her make-up in the mirror one last time before she decided she was satisfied. It looked icky, but for once that was a good thing since it was stage make-up and therefore supposed to be super heavy in order for the audience to be able to see her under all the lights.

Around her, the other girls in the dressing room were busy preparing to go on stage; it was their opening night and everyone had at least a small case of butterflies, even Brooke, despite her long experience with acting. So, when there was a small rap on the door there was an immediate rush of panic.

"It can't be time already!"

"I've not even finished dressing!"

"I can't find the pins for my hair!"

"Ahem," the girl from the backstage crew who had knocked on the door cleared her throat. "You've still got lots of time before we go on." After the collective sigh of relief had sounded, she looked over at Brooke, "Someone's here to see you."

Brooke raised an eyebrow at her curiously, but the girl just shrugged as if she didn't know who it was. Brooke got up and went out of the room, after which she closed the door behind them.

"He's standing behind the main door over there," she told Brooke and pointed out the direction.

"Okay, thanks. Wait, did you say 'he'?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah." The girl nodded before leaving Brooke alone to figure out it was Lucas.

She knew she should have realized it was him immediately – who else would it be? Her parents certainly weren't going to turn up, they hadn't been to see any of her performances since primary school – but it just hadn't clicked at first. Besides, he hadn't said he was going to come to see her before the play started.

She raised a hand to make sure her hair was perfect as she walked towards the door, but in doing so felt the thick make-up that covered her face. She instantly stopped walking, cringing at the thought of Lucas seeing her with all this cake over her face. Still, she couldn't exactly leave him standing out there…

When Brooke reached the door she pushed it open just enough for her to peek out of it. Sure enough, Lucas was right outside the door and unfortunately for Brooke managed to spot her as soon as she had opened it.

"Brooke, what are you doing?"

"I was just looking for you. I thought you were only coming when the play started and that we'd meet up after the play."

"I just told you that because I wanted to surprise you."

"Oh."

"Now will you come outside so I can show you the second part of the surprise?"

"Um, well, I think we're not supposed to go outside of here so people don't see our costumes-"

"Your costume is just a dress, Brooke. Come on," Lucas encouraged.

"Okay, but you can't laugh," she warned him as she finally stepped out into the area where Lucas was standing.

"What would I be laughing at?"

"My stage make-up! It makes me look yucky under normal light."

"You could never look anything but pretty, Brooke," he assured her, bringing a smile to her face.

"Thanks. So what's the second part of my surprise?" she asked excitedly.

Lucas laughed at her sudden enthusiasm and brought his right hand out from where it had been hiding behind his back, revealing the bouquet he had bought her.

Brooke's mouth formed an "O" as she took the bouquet of wildflowers from him with both hands, but before she could start to thank him he started talking.

"Now, I know they aren't roses but I was in the shop and I saw roses and I was thinking about getting them, but then I saw these and they made me think of you so I got these instead, but then I came here and I saw some other guy had brought roses and I realized I probably should have just got the roses-"

"Lucas!" Brooke exclaimed, effectively cutting off his ramble. "You didn't have to get me roses – you didn't have to get me anything – but thank you for these. I love these flowers and if you thought of me when you saw them, then I love them even more and I love you for getting them for me," she finished, smiling sweetly at him.

Once the words were out of her mouth Brooke realized she'd let slip the four letter word she'd carefully side-stepped since Lucas had seemed somewhat freaked out by her accidentally saying them. Although, having had time to reflect on it afterwards, Brooke had realized she really did mean them; maybe Lucas just wasn't in that place yet. Or maybe, since Lucas wasn't really like most guys in that respect, he thought he was supposed to have said it first.

Feeling a bit guilty for bringing it up out of nowhere once again, Brooke started to backtrack, and began, "Er, I mean-"

"No, it's okay," Lucas interrupted. "It's okay. I-I love you too," he finished, smiling in that rare way that reached his eyes. Sometimes when he smiled like that, Brooke would remember having read in a magazine that it increases the likelihood of getting those 'crow's feet' lines around your eyes as you got older. However, just then, she was too busy smiling back.

Wordlessly, she transferred the flowers to her left hand and reached towards him with her right, pulling him into a tight hug that they stayed in for a few minutes.

"I'd kiss you, but I'd get make up over your face – in fact I'm probably getting it on your shirt now; plus, I'd have to redo mine and since it's curtain time in-"

"It's okay," Lucas told her and placed a soft kiss on her hair. "I'll see you after the show, pretty girl," he added, eliciting a grin from Brooke.

She said, "Bye," before heading to the door.

"Good luck!" Lucas called out, which had the effect of stopping Brooke in her tracks and turning around to stare at him open-mouthed. "Not that you need it," he added hastily.

"It's bad luck to say good luck! You say-"

"Break a leg! I know, I forgot, I'm sorry," Lucas said quickly. "Break a leg," he repeated.

Still frowning, Brooke shook her head. "You should be in serious trouble right now. It's a good thing I love you."

Lucas grinned "Yeah. It's a really a good thing."

* * *

As soon as the performance was over everyone began celebrating. However, there was still another night to go so Peyton soon began making sure everyone didn't forget to put back the props that they had used and that no harm came unto the sets. Luckily she managed to get the props organized relatively quickly and once she had them all, Peyton took them to the cupboard for safekeeping. As she was putting them away, one of the books slipped out of her hand and she was about to bend down to pick it up when she heard a voice behind her.

"Need some help?"

Peyton swiveled round on the heel of her converse and stared open mouthed at the sight of her boyfriend standing in front of her. "Jake!"

"Hi. Happy to see me?" he asked, grinning.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, her curls bouncing as she moved to hug him. "But I thought you said you were coming tomorrow."

"I was, but the case I was working on wrapped up sooner than I thought it would and in the end I was able to get out of work this afternoon. My choices were either to stay alone in my – soon to be our – apartment," he explained eliciting a grin from Peyton, "or come early and surprise you. Clearly you can tell which choice was more appealing."

"Do you have to go back early?"

"Nope, I can stay until Sunday just like I was going to."

"That's great," Peyton told him, and to emphasize she kissed him.

Jake smiled into the kiss as he tightened his grip on Peyton's waist to line her body up against his. He was about to change the angle of his head so he could deepen the kiss when he heard something that sounded like a knock on the door.

Peyton and Jake broke apart to discover that in fact it had been someone about to enter but had then tried to leave without them noticing; only the boy, who Peyton recognized as Mouth, one of the backstage helpers, had accidentally bumped into the door on his way out.

"H-hi, Miss Sawyer," he said, more to the ground than to her.

"Hi Mouth."

"I was just coming to tell you that I made sure all the mikes were put away properly so if there isn't anything else I was going to go home."

"That's fine, thank you Mouth. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

"Bye!" he told them, before rushing away.

Jake chuckled after he had gone. "I guess we should save the hanky panky until we're back at your apartment," he joked.

"I wouldn't speak to soon if I were you," Peyton warned, finally bending down to get the book she had dropped. "I'm pretty sure Haley and Nathan already have plans for the apartment."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Your room as well?"

"Of course not! But don't you think it'd be a bit weird for us to be having sex in my room, while they're doing it right in the next room?"

"Well, I can see how it might be a bit noisy for your neighbours but-" Peyton cut him off by slapping his shoulder. "I'm just kidding, Peyton!" he said, laughing. "And speaking of Haley, I should thank her later for not ruining the surprise."

"What?" Peyton wondered as she locked up the cupboard containing the props. "Haley knew you were coming today instead of tomorrow?"

"After getting into town, I came here with Nathan and when he called her before the play started he accidentally told her that I was in the car with him. But, don't be mad at Haley," Jake said, when Peyton started to pout. "It was Nathan's fault for telling her initially and then I made her promise not to."

"Okay," Peyton relented, picking up her purse with one hand as she took Jake's hand in the other. "But in order to make up for it, she and Nathan have to give us the apartment for tonight."

"Now that's a deal I like very much."

* * *

Haley turned around once more, searching through the crowd. There were times when being short was a good thing; like when Nathan held her and her head fit just right in the crook of his neck. This, however, wasn't one of those times.

She almost felt like standing on tiptoes in order to find him; the only thing that kept her from doing so was the fact that the crowd was made up of students and parents of people in the play. Haley didn't exactly want those parents to think her somewhat ridiculous on parent's day.

She took a few steps forward before swiveling round once more, until finally she heard someone call, "Haley!"

Turning in order to follow the male voice, the smile on her face froze in place when she saw that its owner wasn't alone; her boyfriend was waiting for her by the steps, but he was also accompanied by her parents.

It wasn't that Haley didn't like her parents; the truth was she liked them a lot. They could just be a bit…shocking to anyone who didn't know them well. Since they had said they were going to be there she knew beforehand a meeting would be inevitable but Haley had been hoping she could find Nathan first and then introduce him to them as they were usually on better behaviour when she was around. Well, that wasn't strictly true, but at least if she was around then she would know what they were saying. Now, she had no idea what they had told him.

Haley quickly went over to them and her Dad wrapped her up in a hug. "The play was amazing sweetheart! Congratulations."

"Thanks, Dad."

Lydia James then gave her a daughter a kiss on the cheek. "You did wonderfully, Haley-bop."

Haley had been smiling up to the point where her mother mentioned her childhood nickname. Nathan, however, pretended he hadn't heard as it was his turn to hug her and she immediately relaxed as she always did when he had his arms around her. Well, not if he had his arms around her and was kissing her at the same time – but that really wasn't something she should be thinking about in front of her parents.

"So," Haley began after she stepped out of Nathan's arms but stayed next to him, "how did you find each other?"

"Well, Haley dear," Lydia told her, "since, in all this time, you hadn't introduced us to your new boyfriend, I simply went around the auditorium asking every handsome man if he was my daughter's new beau."

The colour drained out of Haley's face at her mother's words since it was the kind of thing that only Lydia James was capable of. However, her father's laughter soon clued Haley in. "Very funny, Mom," Haley deadpanned.

"Well, it would have served you right if I had."

"We were entering the auditorium at the same time and I recognized your parents from the photos you have," Nathan explained.

"Oh," Haley said, realizing that that meant Nathan would have introduced himself first.

Lydia smiled before informing her daughter, "Well, your father and I should be going."

"Already?"

"Us old people need our rest."

"Who are you calling old?" Jimmy wondered.

Ignoring her husband Lydia continued, "We'll see you after tomorrow's performance, Haley-bop."

"I told you, you don't have to come to both-"

"And I told you that this is my daughter's directorial debut. Besides, Nathan told us that he's coming for tomorrow's performance and since now I already know what happens, tomorrow I can pay attention to Nathan instead of the stage."

Two things came to Haley's mind at once. One was that Nathan was going to be in for a full interrogation, but the second was the one she said aloud; "You're going to talk while they play's going on?"

All three of her companions smiled at her obvious dismay.

Jimmy James took a step forward to kiss the top of her head, "Try not to lose sleep over it, kiddo. We'll see you tomorrow."

Lydia and Jimmy bid their goodbyes to Haley and Nathan before disappearing to the slowly thinning crowd.

"They were joking right?" Haley asked Nathan, only half hopefully. "They're not really going to talk in the audience are they? Oh!" she added, horrified. "One of the teachers I met during the interval said there was a couple near the front of the downstairs audience who kept talking. That wasn't my parents was it, Nathan? Did you see them talking?"

"No, Haley-" Nathan began, trying to calm her down.

"You mean no, they weren't talking or no, you couldn't see them?"

"No, they weren't talking. I could see them, they were sitting a few rows in front of me and whenever I noticed them they seemed to be paying full attention to the play although I have to admit I wasn't watching them the entire time."

"No? Why not?"

"Shocking as it may sound, I was actually watching the play," Nathan told her with a smile.

"Oh. Right. What did you think?" Haley asked nervously.

"It was good."

"Really? Because I know this isn't exactly your thing and you don't have to say that just because you're my boyfriend."

"Really," Nathan stressed. "The language was a bit over my head sometimes – well, most of the time – but I did enjoy it. I definitely learnt The Importance of Being Earnest."

Haley grinned. "Thanks. And, hey, you just made a pun."

Nathan laughed. "I guess there's hope for me yet, then."

"Most definitely."

"I'm glad you think so, Miss James."

Haley blushed like she always did when he called her that, and she was starting to think that he did for that exact purpose. It was a good thing the crowd had thinned out while they were talking as most people went home, or it would have been more embarrassing if any of her real students had overheard.

"Well, what you like to go do to celebrate?" Nathan asked.

"It's too early to celebrate!" Haley protested. "We still have tomorrow to get through."

"That was the very first performance of the very first play you directed and it went off without a hitch," Nathan reminded her. "Of course that's reason to celebrate. And it's going to be my treat too."

Haley sighed. "Well, if you insist."

"I do. So, what would you like to do? Go out? It's kind of late for a proper meal but I'm sure we can find somewhere to eat if you want to. Or we could have our own private celebration…" Nathan wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Haley giggled, but before she could respond, Nathan's eyes widened and he blurted out, "Mom!"

Haley quickly turned around and saw Karen approaching them. She smiled at them, and although she was too far away to have heard Nathan's suggestive comment, Haley blushed anyway.

Once Karen had reached them she addressed Haley, "Haley, the play was fantastic! I really enjoyed it."

"Thank you so much, Karen," Haley replied smiling back.

"I just came over to see what you two were doing tonight. I thought you probably have plans already but just in case you don't, would you like to come back to the house?" Karen wondered. Technically, it wasn't her house, but now that she spent half her time in Tree Hill to supervise the opening of her second café, she and Keith were spending more time together, like they had before he had married Deb, and since her own son was currently staying there as well, it felt like her home away from home. "I was going to whip up something for dinner for Keith and myself, and Lucas and Brooke will be joining us as well. Of course, if you've already made plans-"

"No, we haven't. And a home dinner sounds lovely," Haley admitted. "If that's okay," she added, turning to Nathan.

"Yeah, that's fine with me."

"Alright, that's settled then," Karen said with a smile.

"Okay, but you must let me help you in the kitchen," Haley told Karen as the older woman started leading them through the crowd. "You can't be cooking for six people by yourself at this hour."

"Oh don't be silly," Karen dismissed her. "You've done all this work; you should relax and save your strength for tomorrow. I'll get Keith to help me in the kitchen."

On their way out, just as they were about to exit the building, they bumped into Peyton and Jake who Karen immediately invited to join them as well. They accepted and soon found Lucas, Brooke and Keith waiting for them at the front of the car park.

At first, Nathan was worried that Lucas might make it uncomfortable since he hadn't completely gotten over problem with his cousin dating his teacher, but he smiled at Haley normally and was content to stay silent while they walked up to the car park.

Keith and Karen led the way with Brooke and Lucas behind them, followed by Jake and Peyton and then Nathan and Haley bringing up the rear. As Haley leaned into his side searching for warmth against the chill December air, Nathan couldn't help but think how different his life was than it had been a year ago. Last year he had celebrated Christmas with Karen and Jake, but in the past few months he had grown closer to both his uncle and Lucas and now that he was with Haley he felt like, for once, he had a real family.

"Hey you," Haley whispered, making Nathan realized they had reached the cars. He watched Lucas and Brooke get into Keith's car while they waited for Jake to unlock his. "What were you thinking?" Haley wondered as Nathan opened the car door for her.

Nathan paused for a moment then shook his head. "Just that…it's nice to go home," he said finally before sliding into the backseat next to Haley while Jake and Peyton sat up front.

Haley smiled at him before leaning her head on his shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah it is."

**The end.**

**A/N:** I know I said that there were two more chapters to go, but when I finally sat down to write them they felt better as one. So, yes, that really is the end of this story! A big thank you goes to Tiffany who's been beta'ing this story from about chapter 20 onwards and without whom this final chapter would have taken even longer for me to write than it did! Thank you so much to those of you who have been reading and reviewing from the beginning. I've loved reading all your reviews and I hope you've enjoyed the journey. :)


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